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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary fer·tile ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin fertilis, from ferre to carry, bear — more at bear DATE 15th century 1. a. producing or bearing fruit in great quantities : productive b. characterized by great resourcefulness of thought or imagination : inventive a fertile mind c. obsolete : plentiful 2. a. (1) capable of sustaining abundant plant growth fertile soil (2) affording abundant possibilities for growth or development damp bathrooms are fertile ground for fungi —Consumer Reports a fertile area for research b. capable of growing or developing a fertile egg c. (1) capable of producing fruit (2)of an anther : containing pollen (3) developing spores or spore-bearing organs d. capable of breeding or reproducing 3. capable of being converted into fissionable material fertile uranium 238 Synonyms. fertile , fecund , fruitful , prolific mean producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit. fertile implies the power to reproduce in kind or to assist in reproduction and growth fertile soil applied figuratively, it suggests readiness of invention and development a fertile imagination fecund emphasizes abundance or rapidity in bearing fruit or offspring a fecund herd fruitful adds to fertile and fecund the implication of desirable or useful results fruitful research prolific stresses rapidity of spreading or multiplying by or as if by natural reproduction a prolific writer English Etymology fertile 1436, from L. fertilis "bearing in abundance, fruitful, productive," from ferre "to bear" (see infer). Fertilize is 1648; its biological sense of "unite with an egg cell" is first recorded 1859. Fertile Crescent (1914) was coined by U.S. archaeologist James H. Breasted (1865-1935). Fertilizer as a euphemism for "manure" is from 1846. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 fertile fer·tile / 5fE:tail; NAmE 5fE:rtl / adjective1. (of land or soil 土地或土壤) that plants grow well in 肥沃的；富饶的: a fertile region 富饶的地区 OPP infertile 2. (of people, animals or plants 人或动植物) that can produce babies, young animals, fruit or new plants 能生育的；可繁殖的；能结果的: The treatment has been tested on healthy fertile women under the age of 35. 这个疗法已对 35 岁以下能生育的健康妇女进行了试验。 OPP infertile 3. [usually before noun] that produces good results; that encourages activity 能产生好结果的；促进的: a fertile partnership 有成效的合伙关系 The region at the time was fertile ground for revolutionary movements (= there were the necessary conditions for them to develop easily). 当时该地区是革命运动的沃土。 4. [usually before noun] (of a person's mind or imagination 人的思想或想像力) that produces a lot of new ideas 点子多的；想像力丰富的: the product of a fertile imagination 想像力丰富的产物 ⇨ compare sterile Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English fertile adj. VERBS be, look | become | remain, stay ADV. extremely, highly, very a highly fertile soil OLT fertile adj. ⇨ productive Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: self-fertile , or cross-fertile , or fertile frondfer·tile \ˈfər]d.əl, fə̄], fəi], ]təl 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 > |
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