sterilis

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“sterile”). Related to Ancient Greek στεῖρα (steîra, “heifer; barren woman”) and German Sterke (“heifer”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈste.ri.lis/, [ˈs̠t̪ɛrɪlʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈste.ri.lis/, [ˈst̪ɛːrilis]

Adjective

sterilis (neuter sterile); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. barren, sterile
2. unprofitable, futile

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	sterilis	sterile		sterilēs	sterilia
genitive	sterilis			sterilium
dative	sterilī			sterilibus
accusative	sterilem	sterile		sterilēs sterilīs	sterilia
ablative	sterilī			sterilibus
vocative	sterilis	sterile		sterilēs	sterilia

Derived terms

• sterilitās

Descendants

• Franco-Provençal: êterlo
  • French: éterle

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: estèril
• → English: sterile
• → French: stérile
• → German: steril
• → Italian: sterile
• → Piedmontese: stéril
• → Portuguese: estéril
• → Romanian: steril
• → Spanish: estéril

References

• “sterilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sterilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sterilis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.