English
fertility
Fertility comes from Latin fertilitās ‘fruitfulness, fertility’, from ferō ‘to carry, bear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti2‘to bear, carry’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō2‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō3‘to carry, bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilis4‘fruitful, fertile’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilitās5‘fruitfulness, fertility’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fertilité5
- Englishearliest quotation 2018fertility5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin fero
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin fertilis
- 4 Wiktionary, Latin fertilitas
- 5 Wiktionary, English fertility
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, James Roland, What is Hypergonadism?: “Men may also have fertility challenges, especially if their…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéretiWiktionary, Latin fero‘to bear, carry’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōWiktionary, Latin fero‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, Latin fertilis‘to carry, bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilisWiktionary, Latin fertilitas‘fruitful, fertile’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilitāsWiktionary, English fertility‘fruitfulness, fertility’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fertilitéWiktionary, English fertility
- Englishearliest quotation 2018fertilityWiktionary, English fertility. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, James Roland, What is Hypergonadism?: “Men may also have fertility challenges, especially if their…”
Formed from fertile + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
…
Latin ferō ‘to bear, carry’
Latin fertilis ‘fruitful, fertile’
Old French fertile
Middle French fertile
English fertile
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, burden, bearing, prefer, barrel, fortune, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, berth, ferret, insufferable, bahar, bier, furtive, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, proffer, 116 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, indifferently, 94 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, indifferent, differentiation, deference, differentially, differentiable, deferential, differentiator, 71 more
through Latin ferō ‘to carry, bear’
different, difference, offer, reference, transfer, extraordinary, relative, translation, relate, relation, suffer, translate, frustration, referendum, strangely, differ, referee, extravagant, frustrate, elated, infra, confer, defer, extraneous, infer, strangeness, ablation, elation, collation, collate, dilate, oblate, estrange, ablative, efferent, 80 more
through Latin fertilis ‘fruitful, fertile’
Today it means
noun The condition, or the degree, of being fertile.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “fertility”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, Latin fero, Latin fertilis, Latin fertilitas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / fertility