Adjacent Words

Fertile definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FER'TILE, a. [L. fertilis, from fero, to bear.]
1. Fruitful; rich; producing fruit in abundance; as fertile land, ground, soil, fields or meadows. This word in America is rarely applied to trees, or to animals, but to land. It formerly had of before the thing producing; as fertile of all kinds of grain: but in is now used; fertile in grain.
2. Rich; having abundant resources; prolific; productive; inventive; able to produce abundantly; as a fertile genius, mind or imagination.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: capable of reproducing [ant: infertile, sterile, unfertile]
2: intellectually productive; "a prolific writer"; "a fecund imagination" [syn: fecund, fertile, prolific]
3: bearing in abundance especially offspring; "flying foxes are extremely prolific"; "a prolific pear tree" [syn: prolific, fertile]
4: marked by great fruitfulness; "fertile farmland"; "a fat land"; "a productive vineyard"; "rich soil" [syn: fat, fertile, productive, rich]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin fertilis, from ferre to carry, bear — more at bear Date: 15th century 1. a. producing or bearing fruit in great quantities ; productive b. characterized by great resourcefulness of thought or imagination ; inventive <a fertile mind> c. obsolete plentiful 2. a. (1) capable of sustaining abundant plant growth <fertile soil> (2) affording abundant possibilities for growth or development <damp bathrooms are fertile ground for fungi —Consumer Reports> <a fertile area for research> b. capable of growing or developing <a fertile egg> c. (1) capable of producing fruit (2) of an anther containing pollen (3) developing spores or spore-bearing organs d. capable of breeding or reproducing 3. capable of being converted into fissionable material <fertile uranium 238> • fertilely adverb • fertileness noun Synonyms: fertile, fecund, fruitful, prolific mean producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit. fertile implies the power to reproduce in kind or to assist in reproduction and growth <fertile soil>; applied figuratively, it suggests readiness of invention and development <a fertile imagination>. fecund emphasizes abundance or rapidity in bearing fruit or offspring <a fecund herd>. fruitful adds to fertile and fecund the implication of desirable or useful results <fruitful research>. prolific stresses rapidity of spreading or multiplying by or as if by natural reproduction <a prolific writer>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 a (of soil) producing abundant vegetation or crops. b fruitful. 2 a (of a seed, egg, etc.) capable of becoming a new individual. b (of animals and plants) able to conceive young or produce fruit. 3 (of the mind) inventive. 4 (of nuclear material) able to become fissile by the capture of neutrons. Phrases and idioms: Fertile Crescent the fertile region extending in a crescent shape from the E. Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. Derivatives: fertility n. Etymology: ME f. F f. L fertilis

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fertile Fer"tile (? or ?; 277), a. [L. fertilis, fr. ferr? to bear, produce: cf. F. fertile. See Bear to support.] 1. Producing fruit or vegetation in abundance; fruitful; able to produce abundantly; prolific; fecund; productive; rich; inventive; as, fertile land or fields; a fertile mind or imagination. Though he in a fertile climate dwell. --Shak. 2. (Bot.) (a) Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing; as, fertile flowers. (b) Containing pollen; -- said of anthers. 3. produced in abundance; plenteous; ample. Henceforth, my early care . . . Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease Of thy full branches. --Milton. Syn: Fertile, Fruitful. Usage: Fertile implies the inherent power of production; fruitful, the act. The prairies of the West are fertile by nature, and are turned by cultivation into fruitful fields. The same distinction prevails when these words are used figuratively. A man of fertile genius has by nature great readiness of invention; one whose mind is fruitful has resources of thought and a readiness of application which enable him to think and act effectively.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Land or soil that is fertile is able to support the growth of a large number of strong healthy plants. ...fertile soil. ...the rolling fertile countryside of East Cork. = rich ADJ • fertility He was able to bring large sterile acreages back to fertility. N-UNCOUNT 2. A fertile mind or imagination is able to produce a lot of good, original ideas. ...a product of Flynn's fertile imagination... ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. A situation or environment that is fertile in relation to a particular activity or feeling encourages the activity or feeling. ...a fertile breeding ground for this kind of violent racism. ADJ: ADJ n 4. A person or animal that is fertile is able to reproduce and have babies or young. The operation cannot be reversed to make her fertile again. ? infertile, sterile ADJ • fertility Doctors will tell you that pregnancy is the only sure test for fertility. ? infertility, sterility

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Prolific, fecund, breeding, bearing. 2. Fruitful, productive, rich, plenteous, luxuriant, exuberant, teeming. 3. (Bot.) Fruit-bearing, pistillate, female.

Moby Thesaurus

abounding, abundant, affluent, all-sufficing, ample, aplenty, blooming, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, bursting, bursting out, conceptive, conceptual, copious, creative, diffuse, effuse, epidemic, esemplastic, exhaustless, extravagant, exuberant, fat, fecund, flourishing, flush, fructiferous, fructuous, fruitful, full, galore, generative, generous, germinal, ideational, ideative, imaginative, in plenty, in quantity, inexhaustible, ingenious, inspired, inventive, lavish, liberal, lush, luxuriant, many, maximal, much, notional, numerous, opulent, original, originative, overflowing, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, pregnant, prevailing, prevalent, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, proliferous, prolific, rampant, replete, rich, rife, riotous, running over, seminal, shaping, superabundant, swarming, teeming, thriving, uberous, visioned, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale