-gerouscomb. form
Primary stress is attracted to the syllable immediately preceding this combining form and vowels may be reduced accordingly; see e.g.
ovigerous adj.Etymology: < Latin -ger bearing ( < root of gerere to bear) + -ous suffix. In Latin the suffix -ger was always preceded by -i- , either belonging to the stem, as in nāviger , substituted for the stem-vowel as in armiger , or inserted as a connecting vowel as in flōriger ; so that the suffix practically appears in Latin as -iger , and in English as -igerous comb. form.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online December 2020).