Fer"tile [L. fertilis, fr. ferr 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.

Though he in a fertile climate dwell. Shak.

2. Bot. (a)

Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing; as, fertile flowers.

(b)

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.

Syn. -- 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.

 

© Webster 1913.

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