fertility
Americannoun
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fertilities
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
Feeling control isn’t the same thing as having control, and it’s a distinction that we miss all too often when we talk about fertility preservation.
From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2026
We’ve also been told we can have it all: carefully developed careers, balanced retirement accounts, a thriving social life in which plans actually make it out of the group chat—and, oh, by the way, fertility.
From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2026
"Healthy, biologically active soil is crucial for fertility, nutrient cycling and many other ecosystem services."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Studies show that exposure to certain levels of PFAs may lead to decreased fertility and developmental delays in children and increase the risk of cancers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
My fertility was none of his business, anyway.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
Now did Pedgift Junior shine brighter than ever he had shone yet in gems of caustic humor and exquisite fertilities of resource.
From Armadale by Wilkie Collins
Among a people who look to music and song as a source of enjoyment, the habit of improvisation grows up imperceptibly, and engages all the fertilities of imagination in its exercise.
From Servian Popular Poetry by John Bowring
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.
