fertility
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being fertile.
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Biology. the ability to produce offspring; power of reproduction.
the amazing fertility of rabbits.
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the birthrate of a population.
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(of soil) the capacity to supply nutrients in proper amounts for plant growth when other factors are favorable.
noun
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the ability to produce offspring, esp abundantly
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the state or quality of being fertile
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fertility
1375–1425; late Middle English fertilite (< Middle French ) < Latin fertilitās. See fertile, -ity
Explanation
Fertility is the ability to have babies or to reproduce. When fertility rates in a community increase, more babies are born. Fertility is the quality of a human's ability to produce offspring, which is dependent on age, health, and other factors. The noun can also refer to the state of a plant or animal's being capable of reproduction. When you hear about "fertility rates," it means the number of births that happen during a certain time period in a specific location. The Latin root word is fertilis, "bearing in abundance or fruitful," from ferre, "to bear."
Vocabulary lists containing fertility
Bless Me, Ultima
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Content Summary G.3: Spatial Reorganization
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American Street
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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.
It’s possible that declining fertility “may be less about the cost of raising a child and more about whether the relationships and sexual activity that produce children are forming at all.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026
With fertility falling across Europe over the past decade, they argue the country's policies may have staved off even greater decline.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
Across Europe, fertility rates have been below the level needed to keep the population stable without immigration since the 1980s.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
Hungary's fertility is well below the replacement level of 2.1 babies per woman needed to keep the native-born population steady - a number that accounts for those children who don't survive to adulthood.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
We will bury it in our fields to renew their fertility and to assure that the baby will follow our ways.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
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.
