Fertile \Fer"tile\ (? or ?; 277), a. [L. fertilis, fr. ferre to
bear, produce: cf. F. fertile. See Bear to support.]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Though he in a fertile climate dwell. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.)
(a) Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing; as, fertile
flowers.
(b) Containing pollen; -- said of anthers.
[1913 Webster]
3. produced in abundance; plenteous; ample.
[1913 Webster]
Henceforth, my early care . . .
Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease
Of thy full branches. --Milton.
Syn: Fertile, Fruitful.
Usage: 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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
fertile
adj 1: capable of reproducing [ant: sterile]
2: intellectually productive; "a prolific writer"; "a fecund
imagination" [syn: fecund, prolific]
3: bearing in abundance especially offspring; "flying foxes are
extremely prolific"; "a prolific pear tree" [syn: prolific]
4: marked by great fruitfulness; "fertile farmland"; "a fat
land"; "a productive vineyard"; "rich soil" [syn: fat, productive,
rich]
WordNet (r) 2.0
90 Moby Thesaurus words for "fertile":
abounding, abundant, affluent, all-sufficing, ample, aplenty,
blooming, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, bursting, bursting out,
conceptive, conceptual, copious, creative, diffuse, effuse,
epidemic, esemplastic, exhaustless, extravagant, exuberant, fat,
fecund, flourishing, flush, fructiferous, fructuous, fruitful,
full, galore, generative, generous, germinal, ideational, ideative,
imaginative, in plenty, in quantity, inexhaustible, ingenious,
inspired, inventive, lavish, liberal, lush, luxuriant, many,
maximal, much, notional, numerous, opulent, original, originative,
overflowing, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, pregnant,
prevailing, prevalent, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive,
proliferous, prolific, rampant, replete, rich, rife, riotous,
running over, seminal, shaping, superabundant, swarming, teeming,
thriving, uberous, visioned, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished,
well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
Fertile, IA (city, FIPS 27390)
Location: 43.26487 N, 93.42258 W
Population (1990): 382 (161 housing units)
Area: 2.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 50434
Fertile, MN (city, FIPS 20978)
Location: 47.53207 N, 96.29134 W
Population (1990): 853 (421 housing units)
Area: 4.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 56540
U.S. Gazetteer (1990)
Fertile, IA -- U.S. city in Iowa
Population (2000): 360
Housing Units (2000): 161
Land area (2000): 0.940131 sq. miles (2.434927 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 0.940131 sq. miles (2.434927 sq. km)
FIPS code: 27390
Located within: Iowa (IA), FIPS 19
Location: 43.264704 N, 93.421176 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 50434
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Fertile, IA
Fertile
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)
Fertile, MN -- U.S. city in Minnesota
Population (2000): 893
Housing Units (2000): 433
Land area (2000): 1.892536 sq. miles (4.901645 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 1.892536 sq. miles (4.901645 sq. km)
FIPS code: 20978
Located within: Minnesota (MN), FIPS 27
Location: 47.533529 N, 96.283303 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 56540
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Fertile, MN
Fertile
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)
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