fertile

[fur-tl, -tahyl]

adjective

1. bearing, producing, or capable of producing vegetation, crops, etc., abundantly; prolific.

   fertile soil.

   Synonyms: teeming, fecund
   Antonyms: barren, sterile

2. bearing or capable of bearing offspring.

   Synonyms: teeming, fecund
   Antonyms: barren, sterile

3. abundantly productive.

   a fertile imagination.

   Synonyms: teeming, fecund
   Antonyms: barren, sterile

4. producing an abundance (usually followed by of orin ).

   a land fertile of wheat.

5. conducive to productiveness.

   fertile showers.

6. Biology.

   1. fertilized, as an egg or ovum; fecundated.

   2. capable of growth or development, as seeds or eggs.

7. Botany.

   1. capable of producing sexual reproductive structures.

   2. capable of causing fertilization, as an anther with fully developed pollen.

   3. having spore-bearing organs, as a frond.

8. Physics.,  (of a nuclide) capable of being transmuted into a fissile nuclide by irradiation with neutrons.

   Uranium 238 and thorium 232 are fertile nuclides.

9. produced in abundance.

fertile

/ ˈfɜːtaɪl /

adjective

1. capable of producing offspring

2. 1. (of land) having nutrients capable of sustaining an abundant growth of plants

   2. (of farm animals) capable of breeding stock

3. biology

   1. capable of undergoing growth and development

      fertile seeds

      fertile eggs

   2. (of plants) capable of producing gametes, spores, seeds, or fruits

4. producing many offspring; prolific

5. highly productive; rich; abundant

   a fertile brain

6. physics (of a substance) able to be transformed into fissile or fissionable material, esp in a nuclear reactor

7. conducive to productiveness

   fertile rain

fertile

1. Capable of producing offspring, seeds, or fruit.

2. Capable of developing into a complete organism; fertilized.

3. Capable of supporting plant life; favorable to the growth of crops and plants.

Other Word Forms

• fertilely adverb
• fertileness noun
• half-fertile adjective
• half-fertilely adverb
• half-fertileness noun
• nonfertile adjective
• overfertile adjective
• prefertile adjective
• unfertile adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fertile¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English (from Middle French ), from Latin fertilis “fruitful,” akin to ferre “to bear”; bear ¹, -ile

Word History and Origins

Origin of fertile¹

C15: from Latin fertilis , from ferre to bear

Synonym Study

See productive.

Example Sentences

Hopefully the steady gig and the fertile scene in Philadelphia will enable Mr. Taylor to keep developing the potential shown on “Smoke Shifter.”

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Grief creates fertile ground for something new to grow.

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The swathes of fertile farmland in Sudan, Africa's third-largest country and a potential agricultural breadbasket, have whetted the appetite of the desert Gulf countries across the Red Sea.

Read more on Barron's

The fertile area where the mother and daughter work is one of the largest producers of strawberries in the nation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

There was no mistaking the curve of iron tracks slicing through the fertile earth.

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Related Words

• abundant 
• arable 
• fruitful 
• lush 
• productive 
• rich