productivity

American  

[proh-duhk-tiv-i-tee, prod-uhk‑] / ˌproʊ dʌkˈtɪv ɪ ti, ˌprɒd ʌk‑ /

noun

• productivities
  plural

1. the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services.

   The productivity of the group's effort surprised everyone.

2. Economics. the rate at which goods and services having exchange value are brought forth or produced.

   Productivity increased dramatically last year.

3. Grammar. the ability to form new words using established patterns and discrete linguistic elements, as the derivational affixes -ness and -ity,

---

productivity British  

/ ˌprɒdʌkˈtɪvɪtɪ /

noun

1. the output of an industrial concern in relation to the materials, labour, etc, it employs

2. the state of being productive

---

productivity Cultural  

1. In business, a measure of worker efficiency, such as one hundred units per hour. In economics, involvement in the creation of goods and services to produce wealth.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonproductivity
  noun
• semiproductivity
  noun
• unproductivity
  noun
• antiproductivity
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• productivities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of productivity

First recorded in 1800–10; productiv(e) ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Explanation

Use the noun productivity to describe how much you can get done. Your boss at work probably keeps track of your productivity — meaning he’s checking to see how much work you do and how well you do it. The word productivity is often used in the workplace. It can describe the performance of individual workers, a department, or even an entire industry. You’ll often hear it used with a percentage. Your boss might come in with a smile and say that productivity has increased by 30 percent. Productivity is also frequently used in relation to farming. If you live in a farming community you likely hear news reports about agricultural productivity in your area.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

productivity productivities

So far investors have been focused on artificial-intelligence infrastructure plays rather than productivity beneficiaries, says Goldman Sachs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

And as AI adoption increases, companies’ productivity should improve.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

"The biggest risk for European equities is potentially stagflationary: climate change could simultaneously weaken productivity and growth, at the same time pushing food, energy, insurance costs, infrastructure spending and ultimately inflation structurally higher," she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

For Europe, the summer of 2026 looks like a new normal, with heat waves dragging on productivity and disrupting logistics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

In business, education, science, and so forth, most productivity is determined by an evaluation of employees or students, and funding is often allocated based on that assessment.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

That, in turn, allowed firms to meet a given level of demand by using more workers less intensively—at lower productivities.

From Economist ● Feb. 17, 2014

Over the long run, technology sets potential productivities, which govern the wages workers can earn.

From Economist ● Jan. 22, 2014

For instance, Japanese steel, metal, car, car parts, camera, and consumer electronic companies compete fiercely and have higher productivities than their U.S. counterparts.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Of course, there are also the famous differences between the productivities of the economies of whole countries, such as Japan, the United States, France, and Germany.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

For expository reasons we can take social subsistence and productivities as purely constant.

From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Thomas Colignatus

Related Words

• capacity
• fertility
• production
• yield