ˈfər]d. ə l, fə̄], fəi], ]t ə l sometimes ](ˌ)til, chiefly Brit ]ˌtīl adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French fertile, from Latin fertilis, from ferre to bear, produce — more at bear
1.
a. : characterized by production of great quantities : abundant in yield : productive
prodigally fertile fields of ripening corn and oats
peopled chiefly by three fertile families
a fertile author with 50 books already published
a philosophic tradition fertile in lucid writers
specifically : characterized by abundant resourcefulness of thought or imagination : creative , inventive
his mind fertile in projects for the advancement of his fellows — H.W.H.Knott
the fertile handling of folk themes in his new composition
b. : produced abundantly : numerous , teeming
GI's … wading into the shore in numbers … prodigally fertile — John Mason Brown
2.
a.
(1) : capable of sustaining abundant and vigorous vegetation : favorable to plant growth
fertile fields of loam
made the soil fertile again by adding the needed chemicals
a fertile region awaiting the plow
(2) : making the soil fertile : fertilizing
(3) : affording favorable conditions or abundant possibilities for development
countries where such misery exists are fertile soil for Communist infiltration — New York Times Magazine
what happens to responses during this period … would seem to offer a fertile field for research — Ralph Linton
b. of a seed or egg : capable of growing or developing
c.
(1) : capable of producing fruit : fruit-bearing
fertile flowers
fertile trees
(2) of an anther : containing pollen
(3) : developing spores or spore-bearing organs
d.
(1) : capable of breeding or reproducing especially as indicated by the prior production of viable offspring
a bull warranted fertile
(2) : likely to conceive or beget offspring
few men over 60 are highly fertile
(3) : potentially reproductive
few men of fertile age
(4) of an estrous cycle : marked by the production of one or more viable eggs
e. of a bee : producing eggs
3. : capable of being converted into fissionable material
fertile uranium 238
Synonyms:
fecund , fruitful , prolific : fertile may apply to a soil facilitating ready growth or to something likened to a productive seed bed; it may also apply to persons or animals able to produce young
past fields where the wheat was high. Peaches grew in the orchards; it was a fertile country — S.V.Benét
planted so deeply in fertile minds that even now they are sending up fresh crops — H.S.Canby
India, where the people are more fertile than the land — Time
fecund may apply to whatever yields in abundance or with rapidity
giving lessons to a few of the fecund king's offspring — E.J.Kahn
a good part of these inventions came to birth — or were further nourished — in the fecund mind of Leonardo da Vinci — Lewis Mumford
fruitful may apply to anything bearing or borne in abundance or in gratifying numbers or to conditions that facilitate such bearing
prefer that a coconut palm should be planted by an old woman who has many children, because they believe that a tree planted by so fruitful a woman will bear a plentiful crop of coconuts — J.G.Frazer
rewarding land, too, much of it; rich, wide, and in years when the rains came, wonderfully fruitful — Russell Lord
the enormously fruitful discovery that pitch of sound depends upon the length of the vibrating chord — Havelock Ellis
prolific stresses rapidity in production or reproduction and may or may not be derogatory
the defectives are appallingly prolific: the others have fewer children — G.B.Shaw
the starling is so prolific that the flocks become immense — Richard Jefferies
an extremely prolific writer whose literary output, if collected, might easily fill half-a-hundred volumes — Encyc. Americana