English
infertility
Infertility comes from Late Latin infertilitas ‘infertility, sterility’, from Latin fertilis ‘fertile’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti2‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō2‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō3‘to carry, bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilis4‘fertile’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfertilis5‘infertile, sterile, unfruitful’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEinfertilitas6‘infertility, sterility’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600infertilité6
- Englishtodayinfertility6
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 infertilis
- 5 Wiktionary, Latin infertilitas
- 6 Wiktionary, English infertility
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’reconstructed
- 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 infertilis‘fertile’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfertilisWiktionary, Latin infertilitas‘infertile, sterile, unfruitful’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEinfertilitasWiktionary, English infertility‘infertility, sterility’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600infertilitéWiktionary, English infertility
- EnglishtodayinfertilityWiktionary, English infertility
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, prefer, burden, barrel, fortune, bearing, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, berth, 125 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, 97 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, differentiation, indifferent, 75 more
through Latin ferō ‘to carry, bear’
different, difference, offer, reference, transfer, relative, translation, extraordinary, relate, relation, suffer, translate, frustration, referendum, differ, strangely, referee, extravagant, defer, confer, 93 more
through Latin fertilis ‘fertile’
Today it means
noun The condition of being infertile; of having poor fertility.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “infertility”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, Latin fero, Latin fertilis, Latin infertilis, Latin infertilitas. 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- / infertility