fossiliferous
/fˌɑsəlˈɪfɚəs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Example Sentences
- "Having already described him [the whale] in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now remains to magnify him in an archæological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian point of view."
- "The area contains a great thickness of well exposed fossiliferous, marine strata of uppermost Cretaceous and Eocene age, and it is felt that the most continuous and complete section may be found here."
Etymology
Etymology tree English fossil Latin -i-bor. English -i- Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti Proto-Italic *ferō Latin ferō Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous English -ferous English fossiliferous From fossil + -i- + -ferous.
Inflected Forms
more fossiliferous (comparative)
most fossiliferous (superlative)