Word.ws English Dictionary

-ferous

/-fəɹəs/

-ferous suffix: used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “bearing an entity or entities as specified by the noun”.

Suffix

-ferous (adjective-forming suffix, comparative more -ferous, superlative most -ferous)

  1. Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “bearing an entity or entities as specified by the noun”.
    • flagellum + -i- + -ferous → flagelliferous (“bearing a flagellum”)
    • flos, floris + -i- + -ferous → floriferous (“bearing flowers”)
  2. Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “producing a material as specified by the noun”.
    • nectar + -i- + -ferous → nectariferous (“producing nectar”)
  3. Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “containing a material as specified by the noun”.
    • nickel + -i- + -ferous → nickeliferous (“containing nickel”)
    • cadmium + -i- + -ferous → cadmiferous (“containing cadmium”)

Forms of -ferous

comparativemore -ferous
superlativemost -ferous
alternative form-iferous

Origin of -ferous

From Latin ferō (“to bear”) + English -ous.

Questions about -ferous

What does -ferous mean?
-ferous means used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “bearing an entity or entities as specified by the noun”.
What part of speech is -ferous?
-ferous is a suffix.
How do you pronounce -ferous?
-ferous is pronounced /-fəɹəs/.

Words near -ferous in the dictionary

  1. -facture
  2. -fag
  3. -fenac
  4. -fentanil
  5. -fer
  6. -ferous
  7. -fest
  8. -fests
  9. -fiban
  10. -fibrate
  11. -fication

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -ferous (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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