FERTILE

fertile

(adjective) capable of reproducing

fat, fertile, productive, rich

(adjective) marked by great fruitfulness; “fertile farmland”; “a fat land”; “a productive vineyard”; “rich soil”

prolific, fertile

(adjective) bearing in abundance especially offspring; “flying foxes are extremely prolific”; “a prolific pear tree”

fecund, fertile, prolific

(adjective) intellectually productive; “a prolific writer”; “a fecund imagination”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Adjective

fertile (comparative more fertile, superlative most fertile)

(of land etc) capable of growing abundant crops; productive

(biology) capable of reproducing; fecund, fruitful

(biology) capable of developing past the egg stage

(of an imagination etc) productive or prolific

Synonyms

• See also productive

• fecund

Antonyms

• barren

• infertile

Anagrams

• firelet

Proper noun

Fertile

A city and town in Iowa.

A city and town in Minnesota.

Anagrams

• firelet

Source: Wiktionary

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Fer"tile ( or ; 277), a. Etym: [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. 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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