infertilis

Forms

īnfertilis (neuter īnfertile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in-² + fertilis (“fruitful”).^[2][1][3] Glossaries pair it with Greek ἄγονος (ágonos, “unproductive”).^[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jerome uses it in his translations of Origen's homilies, of barren land and marshes.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare Late Latin word for land that yields little: Servius uses it of hard soil, and the law epitome of Julian contrasts fertile and infertile estates.^[2][4] A Christian writer applies it figuratively to barren vine shoots.^[2]

Medieval Latin kept it for barren soil and people,^[6][7] and Hildegard of Bingen uses it of men and of trees.^[8] Through French it gave English infertile (1590s).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of barren land.^[2][5]
• c. 400 AD – Servius uses it of hard, unproductive soil.^[2][5]
• mid 5th century AD – Julian's epitome of the Novels speaks of fertile and infertile estates.^[2][4][5]
• 2nd half of the 12th century – Hildegard of Bingen applies it to people and trees.^[8][5]
• 1590s – English borrows it, through French, as infertile.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) unfruitful, barren (of land).^[2][4][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) sterile, infertile (of people, animals or plants).^[6][8][1]

Word family

• īnfertilitās

Related words

• English infertile

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press