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Glite Dictionary
🔤 Combining form 🚚 To carry
fer

fer

1 9.9
A word part that means bearing or carrying, used in words like conifer and aquifer
  • other
  • Specialized
translation icon : portador
  • We played baccarat and chemin de fer.
  • fer-de-lance
  • de fer

Examples

  • Inge said how Penny was not going to believe this, but for the first time since she had been in Verdi, she had been lucky and won a lot of money at chemin de fer.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Penny liked to play the nickel slot machines while Inge sat at a table and played baccarat or chemin de fer.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Scorpions infest the orchards, and the yellow viper or fer-de-lance lives on the mountainside.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The question of "to do or not to do?" was again answered when, in August 1990, I watched Victor, a seven-year-old, laughing and walking two weeks after being severely bitten by a fer-de-lance.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The management of Le Cirque Club takes pleasure in requesting the company of Mr. Richard Starkey — that's you — to their gaming rooms: chemin de fer, baccarat and champagne buffet.

    A Hard Day's Night (1964)

  • The fer-de-lance is known for its aggressive behavior and powerful venom.

  • In many cultures, the fer-de-lance snake is regarded as a symbol of danger.

  • The fer-de-lance can be found in the forests of Central and South America.

Synonyms

formant
vsfer
  • Specialized
9.4

A part added to a word like -ed that shows past tense or changes meaning

is a specific combining form meaning bearing producing or carrying

Surface Forms

fer main

Etymology

The combining form fer comes from Latin ferre, which means 'to carry'. It shows up in words like conifer ('cone-bearing'), aquifer ('water-carrying') and lucifer ('light-bringer'), so the -fer part usually means 'bearing' or 'carrying' in compound words.