English Explanatory Dictionary

fertile

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.
  2. Of one's imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific.
  3. Capable of reproducing; fecund, fruitful.
  4. Capable of developing past the egg stage.
  5. Not itself fissile, but able to be converted into a fissile material by irradiation in a reactor.
name
  1. A city and township in Iowa.
  2. A city in Minnesota.

Pronunciation

/ˈfɜːtaɪl/ /ˈfɜːtəl/ /ˈfɝːtəl/ /ˈfɝːtaɪl/ en-us-fertile.ogg

Word forms

fertile more fertile most fertile

Etymology

From Middle English, from Middle French fertile, from Old French fertile, from Latin fertilis (“fruitful, fertile”), from ferō (“to bear, carry”).

Synonyms

productive prolific pregnant batful fertile fruitful thriving yielding yieldly voluminous childing

Antonyms

barren infertile sterile

Related words

fertilisation fertilization fertilise fertilize fertiliser fertilizer fertility fertileness subfertile

Derived words

cross-fertile equifertile fertile as a turtle Fertile Belt Fertile Crescent fertilely Fertile Valley fertiloscope fertiloscopy hyperfertile hypofertile interfertile nonfertile overfertile postfertile prefertile self-fertile semifertile superfertile unfertile
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