Sterile
late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin sterilis ; related to Greek steira ‘barren cow’. sterile (sense 2) dates from the late 19th century.
wiktionary
From Middle French stérile, from Latin sterilis(“barren, futile”). See also Ancient Greek στεῖρα(steîra).
etymonline
sterile (adj.)
mid-15c., "barren," from Old French stérile "not producing fruit" and directly from Latin sterilis "barren, unproductive, unfruitful; unrequited; unprofitable," from PIE *ster- "lacking, sterile," source also of Sanskrit starih "a barren cow," Greek steira "sterile, infertile" (of a cow, goat, woman), Armenian sterj "infertile," perhaps ultimately from root *ster- (1) "stiff." Originally in English with reference to soil; of persons (chiefly females), from 1530s. The sense of "sterilized, free from living germs" is first recorded 1877.
