fecundity
Americannoun
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the quality of being fecund; capacity, especially in female animals, of producing young in great numbers.
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fruitfulness or fertility, as of the earth.
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the capacity of abundant production.
fecundity of imagination.
noun
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fertility; fruitfulness
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intellectual fruitfulness; creativity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of fecundity
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin fēcunditās fruitfulness, fertility. See fecund, -ity
Explanation
Fecundity means fruitfulness and fertility, the ability to produce abundant healthy growth or offspring. What a wonderful word fecundity is! It refers to a powerful productivity, usually in the area of natural growth, either from the earth or by human reproduction. But it can also be used to describe great mental ability and creativity, the ability to create intellectual products. In any case, fecundity has a positive sense, suggesting healthy growth of life-forms and mental abilities.
Vocabulary lists containing fecundity
The Time Machine
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Little Fires Everywhere
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"Reality Check," Vocabulary from the short story
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fecundity and creativity of several sorts defined his sunset years.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
Fecundity describes how many offspring could be produced if an individual has as many offspring as possible.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Fecundity and winged seeds have made Norway maple too much of a good thing, so I’m yanking out any small plants that I come upon.
From Washington Times • Oct. 8, 2019
Fecundity and progeny made him regard the future of his children and, relatively, of the race.
From Time Magazine Archive
Fecundity in the old seems to have attracted fully as much attention among the older observers as precocity.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
