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
- nonfertility noun
- overfertility noun
- prefertility noun
- unfertility noun
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.
As the child of a fertility doctor, the actor said she has many loved ones who’ve struggled in their journey and she wants to be considerate and respectful.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
I have been disturbed to see how seriously many of my patients have taken the panic around microplastics and fertility to heart, as if using wooden cutting boards will negate age-related infertility, for example.
From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026
The longer-term outlook remains bleak, with the U.S. fertility rate at a record low.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
He poured money into encouraging couples to have more children, but by 2025, the fertility rate had fallen back to 1.31 - the same number he inherited from the Socialists in 2010.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
Almost at once the number of egg masses deposited on experimental goats began to decrease, as did their fertility.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
