fertile

Adjective
Synonyms: fecundprolificfatproductiverich

WordNet 3.0

Adjective (4)

  1. capable of reproducing
  2. intellectually productive“a prolific writer”“a fecund imagination”Synonyms: fecundprolific
  3. bearing in abundance especially offspring“flying foxes are extremely prolific”“a prolific pear tree”Synonyms: prolific
  4. marked by great fruitfulness“fertile farmland”“a fat land”“a productive vineyard”“rich soil”Synonyms: fatproductiverich
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]

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