Etymograph

English

sterility

Sterility comes from Latin sterilitās ‘sterility, barrenness’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ster-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-1‘sterile’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsterilis2‘barren, sterile’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsterilitās3‘sterility, barrenness’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterylite3
  5. Englishtodaysterility3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sterilis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin sterilitas
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sterility

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-Wiktionary, Latin sterilis‘sterile’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsterilisWiktionary, Latin sterilitas‘barren, sterile’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsterilitāsWiktionary, English sterility‘sterility, barrenness’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steryliteWiktionary, English sterility
  5. EnglishtodaysterilityWiktionary, English sterility

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘sterile’

still, start, street, strength, strongly, stronger, strongest, straw, stare, throttle, torpedo, starve, stern, cholesterol, stereo, strenuous, 18 more

Today it means

noun The state or quality of being sterile.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sterility”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin sterilis, Latin sterilitas. 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 *ster- / sterility

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