fertile
bearing, producing, or capable of producing vegetation, crops, etc., abundantly; prolific: fertile soil.
bearing or capable of bearing offspring.
abundantly productive: a fertile imagination.
producing an abundance (usually followed by of or in): a land fertile of wheat.
conducive to productiveness: fertile showers.
Biology.
fertilized, as an egg or ovum; fecundated.
capable of growth or development, as seeds or eggs.
Botany.
capable of producing sexual reproductive structures.
capable of causing fertilization, as an anther with fully developed pollen.
having spore-bearing organs, as a frond.
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).
produced in abundance.
Origin of fertile
1synonym study For fertile
Other words for fertile
Opposites for fertile
Other words from fertile
- fer·tile·ly, adverb
- fer·tile·ness, noun
- half-fertile, adjective
- half-fer·tile·ly, adverb
- half-fer·tile·ness, noun
- non·fer·tile, adjective
- o·ver·fer·tile, adjective
- pre·fer·tile, adjective
- un·fer·tile, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for fertile
/ (ˈfɜːtaɪl) /
capable of producing offspring
(of land) having nutrients capable of sustaining an abundant growth of plants
(of farm animals) capable of breeding stock
biology
capable of undergoing growth and development: fertile seeds; fertile eggs
(of plants) capable of producing gametes, spores, seeds, or fruits
producing many offspring; prolific
highly productive; rich; abundant: a fertile brain
physics (of a substance) able to be transformed into fissile or fissionable material, esp in a nuclear reactor
conducive to productiveness: fertile rain
Origin of fertile
1Derived forms of fertile
- fertilely, adverb
- fertileness, noun
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
Scientific definitions for fertile
[ fûr′tl ]
Capable of producing offspring, seeds, or fruit.
Capable of developing into a complete organism; fertilized.
Capable of supporting plant life; favorable to the growth of crops and plants.
Other words from fertile
- fertility noun
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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