fecund

American  

[fee-kuhnd, -kuhnd, fek-uhnd, -uhnd] / ˈfi kʌnd, -kənd, ˈfɛk ʌnd, -ənd /

adjective

1. producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; prolific; fruitful.

   fecund parents; fecund farmland.

2. very productive or creative intellectually.

   the fecund years of the Italian Renaissance.

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fecund British  

/ ˈfiːkənd, ˈfɛk- /

adjective

1. greatly productive; fertile

2. intellectually productive; prolific

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Other Word Forms

• nonfecund adjective
• unfecund adjective

Etymology

Origin of fecund

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin fēcundus, equivalent to fē- ( fetus ) + -cundus adj. suffix; replacing late Middle English fecounde < Anglo-French

Explanation

The adjective fecund describes things that are highly fertile and that easily produce offspring or fruit. Rabbits are often considered to be fecund animals, and you may hear jokes in poor taste about people reproducing like rabbits if they have a lot of children. The word fecund comes from the Latin word fecundus, meaning fruitful. But the English word does not just describe something or someone fertile, the adjective fecund can also be used to describe someone who is innovative or highly intellectually productive. Your fecund imagination will be an asset if you have to tell ghost stories around the fire at camp while eating s'mores but that same fecund imagination could be less helpful if you're at home alone on a stormy night and you think you hear a knock at the door!

Example Sentences

Herbs: bright, fecund, verdant, elevating our food with both flavor and color, guiding us from heavy comfort foods into a punchier, lighter category of cuisine.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 2025

The idea, in theory, is that all of these economic policies, when combined with the party’s traditional social conservatism, will make it easier for regular working folks to thrive and be fecund.

From Slate • Jan. 11, 2024

Being a Star Trek nerd, I couldn’t help but imagine a universe where stars were fecund and planets were everywhere.

From Scientific American • Apr. 10, 2023

The primary species of rat in both New York and Los Angeles is Rattus norvegicus, the brown rat: a midsize rodent that has a whiplike tail and is resilient, intuitive and remarkably fecund.

From New York Times • Feb. 27, 2023

“In due season all that lives returns to dust, making the earth fecund with life. Smell how the air tonight is pregnant with the flowers’ blooms and their bee-sought sweetness.”

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein