sterile C2+ Topic:Family & Relationships US /ˈstɛrəl/ UK /ˈstɛraɪl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj free from living germs, or unable to produce offspring Surgeons work only with sterile instruments and gloves. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · free from living germs, or... barreninfertilesterilizedasepticunproductivefruitlessgerm-free ↔ Opposites fertilefecundproductivecontaminatedprolific Word family Derived forms sterilelysterility Related forms sterilizesterility Etymology AI details From Latin 'sterilis', barren, unfruitful, from a Proto-Indo-European root '*ster-', stiff, barren. sterilis Latin *ster- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Family & Relationships External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # sterile **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈstɛrəl/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈstɛraɪl/ ## Meanings 1. free from living germs, or unable to produce offspring ## Examples - Surgeons work only with sterile instruments and gloves. ## Synonyms - barren - infertile - sterilized - aseptic - unproductive - fruitless - germ-free ## Antonyms - fertile - fecund - productive - contaminated - prolific ## Derived Forms - sterilely - sterility ## Related Forms - sterilize - sterility ## Roots and Affixes - Root: sterilis - Root: *ster- ## Etymology From Latin 'sterilis', barren, unfruitful, from a Proto-Indo-European root '*ster-', stiff, barren. ## AI Etymology Sterile is from Latin 'sterilis', barren, unfruitful, from a Proto-Indo-European root '*ster-', stiff, barren. Important recorded forms include sterilis (Latin) and *ster- (Proto-Indo-European). The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers free from living germs, or unable to produce offspring. The wider family includes derived forms such as sterilely and sterility and related words such as sterilize and sterility. ## Topics - Family & Relationships markdown