fertility

[ fer-til-i-tee ]
See synonyms for fertility on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the state or quality of being fertile.

  2. Biology. the ability to produce offspring; power of reproduction: the amazing fertility of rabbits.

  1. the birthrate of a population.

  2. (of soil) the capacity to supply nutrients in proper amounts for plant growth when other factors are favorable.

Origin of fertility

1
1375–1425; late Middle English fertilite (<Middle French ) <Latin fertilitās.See fertile, -ity

Other words from fertility

  • non·fer·til·i·ty, noun
  • o·ver·fer·til·i·ty, noun
  • pre·fer·til·i·ty, noun
  • un·fer·til·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fertility in a sentence

  • He built the amount of rent payable by different lands, on the varying fertilities of the soil.

  • Now did Pedgift Junior shine brighter than ever he had shone yet in gems of caustic humor and exquisite fertilities of resource.

    Armadale | Wilkie Collins

British Dictionary definitions for fertility

fertility

/ (fɜːˈtɪlɪtɪ) /


noun
  1. the ability to produce offspring, esp abundantly

  2. the state or quality of being fertile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012