melliferous

[muh-lif-er-uh s]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR melliferous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

yielding or producing honey.

Origin of melliferous

1650–60; < Latin mellifer honey-bearing (melli-, stem of mel honey + -fer -fer) + -ous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for melliferous

alveolate, faveolate, melliferous, nectariferous, nectarous

Examples from the Web for melliferous

Historical Examples of melliferous

None of the melliferous clan, in my neighbourhood at least, is stirring as early as she is.
Bramble-bees and Others
J. Henri Fabre
Grelet was a skilled apiarist, and replenished his melliferous flocks by wild swarms enticed from the forests.
White Shadows in the South Seas
Frederick O'Brien
Honey is procured by steeping the cones of the Banksia or other melliferous flowers in water.
Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland
Edward John Eyre

British Dictionary definitions for melliferous

melliferous

mellific (mɪˈlɪfɪk)

adjective

forming or producing honey

Word Origin for melliferous

C17: from Latin mellifer, from mel honey + ferre to bear

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012