indicating a person or thing that bears something specified: crucifer, conifer
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
fer
(fûr; unstressed fər),USA pronunciation prep., conj. [Informal.]
-fer,
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026- for.
-fer,
- a combining form meaning "that which carries'' the thing specified by the initial element, used in the formation of compound words:aquifer;conifer;foraminifer.
- Latin, derivative of ferre to bear1, in Latin generally forming adjs; the corresponding English adjs. add -ous; see -ferous
-fer-, root.
- -fer- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "carry.'' This meaning is found in such words as: confer, defer, differ, ferry, infer, pestiferous, prefer, transfer.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'fer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-fer
- -ferous
- Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory
- Dobbs Ferry
- Fergus Falls
- Fermi-Dirac statistics
- Ferrel's law
- afar
- afferent
- antennifer
- aquifer
- auriferous
- bacciferous
- banco
- barba amarilla
- bear
- black-footed ferret
- bulbiferous
- casino
- chamfer bit
- chapel de fer
- chemin de fer
- chemmy
- cholecalciferol
- chronopher
- circumference
- commercial fertilizer
- complete fertilizer
- conifer
- cross-fertilize
- crucifer
- cupferron
- dealing box
- dye transfer
- efferent
- electronic funds transfer
- embryo transfer
- far
- farrier
- feirie
- fer-de-lance
- feral
- ferbam
- ferine
- ferity
- ferly
- ferocious
- ferredoxin
- ferret
- ferret badger