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- ( see 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

Fecund America—to-day, Thou art all over set in births and joys!

From The Patriotic Poems of Walt Whitman by Whitman, Walt

Fecund nature begets and squanders thousands of these rich seeds in the wilderness of life.

From The Virginian, a Horseman of the Plains by Wister, Owen