Fertile
1. Producing fruit or vegetation in abundance; fruitful; able to produce abundantly; prolific; fecund; productive; rich; inventive; as, fertile land or fields; a fertile mind or imagination. Though he in a fertile climate dwell. (Shak)
2. (Science: botany) Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing; as, fertile flowers. Containing pollen; said of anthers.
3. Produced in abundance; plenteous; ample. Henceforth, my early care . . . Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease Of thy full branches. (Milton)
Synonym: fertile, Fruitful.
fertile implies the inherent power of production; fruitful, the act. The prairies of the west are fertile by nature, and are turned by cultivation into fruitful fields. The same distinction prevails when these words are used figuratively. A man of fertile genius has by nature great readiness of invention; one whose mind is fruitful has resources of thought and a readiness of application which enable him to think and act effectively.
Origin: L. Fertiliz, fr. Ferr to bear, produce: cf. F. Fertile. See bear to support.
Marked by great fruitfulness; fertile farmland; a fat land; a productive vineyard; ”rich soil.
Dictionary > Fertile
