fertile

[fur-tl or, esp. British, -tahyl] /ˈfɜr tl or, esp. British, -taɪl/
adjective
1.
bearing, producing, or capable of producing vegetation, crops, etc., abundantly; prolific:
fertile soil.
2.
bearing or capable of bearing offspring.
3.
abundantly productive:
a fertile imagination.
4.
producing an abundance (usually followed by of or in):
a land fertile of wheat.
5.
conducive to productiveness:
fertile showers.
6.
Biology.
  1. fertilized, as an egg or ovum; fecundated.
  2. capable of growth or development, as seeds or eggs.
7.
Botany.
  1. capable of producing sexual reproductive structures.
  2. capable of causing fertilization, as an anther with fully developed pollen.
  3. having spore-bearing organs, as a frond.
8.
Physics. (of a nuclide) capable of being transmuted into a fissile nuclide by irradiation with neutrons:
Uranium 238 and thorium 232 are fertile nuclides.
Compare fissile (def 2).
9.
produced in abundance.
Origin
1425-75; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin fertilis fruitful, akin to ferre to bear1; see -ile
Related forms
fertilely, adverb
fertileness, noun
half-fertile, adjective
half-fertilely, adverb
half-fertileness, noun
nonfertile, adjective
overfertile, adjective
prefertile, adjective
unfertile, adjective
Synonyms
1–3. fecund, teeming. See productive.
Antonyms
1–3. sterile, barren.
Examples from the web for fertile
  • Oh, and it's self-fertile, so you only need one plant to set fruit.
  • It is slightly self fertile and will only reseed itself occasionally.
  • Decades of deforestation have taken their toll, transforming this once-fertile region into a parched wasteland.
  • As the ultimate mark of kinship, such couplings were thought to be perfectly fertile.
  • Rugged mountains and untamed forest came to represent a country that wanted to see itself as strong and fertile.
  • From the beach, the shag migrated inland and found fertile ground in country club and cotton crossroads alike.
  • Some moved into the park itself, setting fires to clear fertile land.
  • It was still desert, but the land looked more fertile now.
  • She shifts from workaday laborer to fertile egg layer, adjusting body and life history in the process.
  • He is a writer of fertile imagination, and is peculiarly happy in the expression of tender and delicate sentiment.
British Dictionary definitions for fertile

fertile

/ˈfɜːtaɪl/
adjective
1.
capable of producing offspring
2.
  1. (of land) having nutrients capable of sustaining an abundant growth of plants
  2. (of farm animals) capable of breeding stock
3.
(biology)
  1. capable of undergoing growth and development: fertile seeds, fertile eggs
  2. (of plants) capable of producing gametes, spores, seeds, or fruits
4.
producing many offspring; prolific
5.
highly productive; rich; abundant: a fertile brain
6.
(physics) (of a substance) able to be transformed into fissile or fissionable material, esp in a nuclear reactor
7.
conducive to productiveness: fertile rain
Derived Forms
fertilely, adverb
fertileness, noun
Word Origin
C15: from Latin fertilis, from ferre to bear
Word Origin and History for fertile
adj.

mid-15c., from Middle French fertil and directly from Latin fertilis "bearing in abundance, fruitful, productive," from ferre "to bear" (see infer). Fertile Crescent (1914) was coined by U.S. archaeologist James H. Breasted (1865-1935).

fertile in Medicine

fertile fer·tile (fûr'tl)
adj.

  1. Capable of conceiving and bearing young.

  2. Fertilized. Used of an ovum.

fertile in Science
fertile
  (fûr'tl)   

  1. Capable of producing offspring, seeds, or fruit.

  2. Capable of developing into a complete organism; fertilized.

  3. Capable of supporting plant life; favorable to the growth of crops and plants.


fertility noun