fertile

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See also: Fertile

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English, from Middle French fertile, from Old French fertile, from Latin fertilis (fruitful, fertile), from ferō (I bear, carry).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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fertile (comparative more fertile, superlative most fertile)

  1. Of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.
  2. (figuratively) Of one's imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:productive
  3. (biology)
    1. Capable of reproducing; fecund, fruitful.
      Synonym: (archaic) childing
      Antonyms: barren, infertile, sterile
      Most women at the age of fifty are not fertile.
    2. Capable of developing past the egg stage.
  4. (physics) Not itself fissile, but able to be converted into a fissile material by irradiation in a reactor.
    There are two basic fertile materials: uranium-238 and thorium-232.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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From Latin fertilem.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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fertile (plural fertiles)

  1. fertile

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Italian

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Etymology

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From Latin fertilem.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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fertile (plural fertili)

  1. fertile
    Antonym: infertile

Derived terms

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See also

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Further reading

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  • fertile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

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Adjective

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fertile

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of fertilis