Words related to the Latin ‘fer(re)’ for “to bear, cary”
(Evidence copied from Etymonline.)
Pete collected this bank by searching <inference> in Etymonline, then following the trail to <infer>. Once he found
the Latin root ‘ferre’, he pasted that root into the search engine. These are just some of the words from that search.
inference
infer
proliferation
aquifer
1590s, "action of inferring;" 1610s, "that which is inferred;" from Medieval Latin inferentia, from
Latin inferentem (nominative inferens), present participle of inferre "bring into; conclude,
deduce" (see infer).
in logic, "to 'bring in' as a conclusion of a process of reasoning," 1520s, from Latin inferre "bring
into, carry in; deduce, infer, conclude, draw an inference; bring against," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) +
ferre "carry, bear,"
1859, "formation or development of cells," from French prolifération, from prolifère "producing
offspring," from Latin proles "offspring" (see prolific) + ferre "to bear" (see infer). Meaning
"enlargement, extension, increase" is from 1920; especially of nuclear weapons (1966).
1897, coined from Latin aqui-, comb. form of aqua "water" (see aqua-) + -fer "bearing," from ferre
"to bear" (see infer).
odoriferous
early 15c., "that has a scent," with -ous + Latin odorifer "spreading odor, fragrant," literally
"bearing odor," from odor (see odor) + ferre "to bear, carry" (see infer). Usually in a positive
sense.
vociferous
1610s, from Latin vociferari "to shout, yell, cry out," from vox (genitive vocis) "voice" (see voice
(n.)) + stem of ferre "to carry" (see infer).
prefer
late 14c., "to put forward or advance in rank or fortune, to promote," from Old French preferer
(14c.) and directly from Latin praeferre "place or set before, carry in front," from prae "before" (see
pre-) + ferre "to carry, to place" (see infer).
fertile
mid-15c., "bearing or producing abundantly," from Middle French fertil (15c.) and directly from
Latin fertilis "bearing in abundance, fruitful, productive," from ferre "to bear" (see infer).
defer
"yield," mid-15c., from Middle French déférer (14c.) "to yield, comply," from Latin deferre "carry
away, transfer, grant," from de- "down, away" (see de-) + ferre "carry" (see infer).
transfer
differ
late 14c., from Old French transferer or directly from Latin transferre "bear across, carry over,
bring through; transfer, copy, translate," from trans- "across" (see trans-) + ferre "to carry" (see
infer).
late 14c., from Old French differer (14c.) and directly from Latin differre "to set apart, differ," from
dis- "away from" (see dis-) + ferre "carry" (see infer).
collate
1610s, from Latin collatus, irregular past participle of conferre "to bring together," from com"together" (see com-) + latus (see oblate (n.)), serving as past participle of ferre "to bear" (see
infer).
conifer
1851, from Latin conifer "cone-bearing, bearing conical fruit," from conus "cone" (see cone) + ferre
"to bear" (see infer).
legislator
c. 1600, from Latin legis lator "proposer of a law," from legis, genitive of lex "law" (see legal (adj.))
+ lator "proposer," agent noun of latus "borne, brought, carried" (see oblate (n.)), used as past
tense of ferre "to carry" (see infer).
circumference
late 14c., from Latin circumferentia, neuter plural of circumferens, present participle of circumferre
"to lead around, take around, carry around," from circum "around" (see circum-) + ferre "to
carry" (see infer). A loan-translation of Greek periphereia "periphery, the line round a circular
body," literally "a carrying round" (see periphery).
Understanding <inference> and its Relatives
Structure of <inference>
in + fer + ence ➔ inference
One definition of current use of this word (From Wikepedia):
Inference is the act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises
known or assumed to be true.
Does this make sense with the etymological information from Douglas Harper’s
Etymonline and the Latin root “fer(re)” for “to bear, carry”?
“1590s, "action of inferring;" 1610s, "that which is inferred;" from Medieval Latin
inferentia, from Latin inferentem (nominative inferens), present participle of inferre "bring
into; conclude, deduce" (see infer).
Etymological & Morphological Families
1) Construct word sums to find which of the words in this etymological family are
ALSO morphologically related. Words of this etymological family that can be
analyzed with the base element <fer> are from the same morphological family.
2) Create a matrix! Use the words you identified with base element <fer> to construct
a matrix BY HAND in the one started in the middle of the oval marking the members
of the etymological family of the Latin ‘fer(re)’. Feel free to add more words than in
the word bank -- as long as you put them through the structure and meaning test. You
can make a draft of this matrix on another page if you want.
3) Place any words from your list that DO NOT belong in the matrix somewhere in the
oval to show they are in the same etymological family.
Challenge Questions
A) Some of the words in this list seem to have very surprising spellings to be from the
same etymological family.
The on-line reference Latdict (www.latin-dictionary.net)
shows that this the four principle parts of this Latin verb.
It is only the 2nd and 4th that concern English spelling.
It looks like <fer> is part of a twin base!
What could the spelling of that twin be?
Which of the words not in the <fer> matrix could be part
of a matrix with the twin?
B) Do your own analysis of the word <assume> and its
etymological and morphological relatives. Does it have
a twin?
2nd
4th
Etymological and Morphological Relatives of the Free Base Element <fer>
fer
L. fer(re) "to bear, cary"