Meanings
fertile1
adjectivefertile (comparative more fertile, superlative most fertile)
comparative more fertile · superlative most fertile
- Of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.
Taking advantage of the river's fertile floodplain, residents of the town of Skardu cultivate apricot, apple, and peach orchards in the sandy soil.
1987 October, Galen Rowell, “Baltistan: The 20th Century Comes to Shangri-la”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 529Synonyms: fat
- natural sciencesNot itself fissile, but able to be converted into a fissile material by irradiation in a reactor.
There are two basic fertile materials: uranium-238 and thorium-232.
Fertile2
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.
Similar
adjectiveOf one's imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveintellectually productive
Similar
adjectivemarked by great fruitfulness
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfertilis“fruitful, fertile”
- Old Frenchfertile
- Middle Frenchfertile
- Englishfertile
From Middle English, from Middle French fertile, from Old French fertile, from Latin fertilis (“fruitful, fertile”), from ferō (“to bear, carry”).
More words from Middle French, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γόνιμος, γόνιμος
- γόνιμος (gónimos)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- γόνιμος (gónimos)capable of reproducing
Arabic خَصِب, خَصِب
- خَصِب (ḵaṣib)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- خَصِب (ḵaṣib)capable of reproducing
Basque emankor, emankor
- emankorof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- emankorof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- ugalkorcapable of reproducing
- emankorcapable of reproducing
Bulgarian плодороден, богат
- плодороден (plodoroden)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- богат (bogat)of one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- плодовит (plodovit)capable of reproducing
- оплоден (oploden)capable of developing past the egg stage
Catalan fèrtil, fèrtil
- fèrtilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fèrtilof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- fèrtilcapable of reproducing
Chinese Mandarin 肥沃, 能生育的
- 肥沃 (féiwò)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- 能生育的 (néng shēngyù de)capable of reproducing
Czech úrodný, plodný
- úrodnýof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- plodnýcapable of reproducing
Danish frugtbar, frugtbar
- frugtbarof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- frugtbarof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- frugtbarcapable of reproducing
Dutch vruchtbaar
- vruchtbaarof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Esperanto fekunda, fekunda
- fekundaof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fekundacapable of reproducing
Finnish viljava, hedelmällinen
- viljavaof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- hedelmällinenof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- tuotteliasof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- vilkasof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- hedelmällinencapable of reproducing
- hedelmöitynytcapable of developing past the egg stage
French fertile, fertile
- fertileof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fertileof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- fertilecapable of reproducing
German fruchtbar, geil
- fruchtbarof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- geilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fruchtbarcapable of reproducing
Hindi उपजाऊ, उर्वर
- उपजाऊ (upjāū)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- उर्वर (urvar)capable of reproducing
Hungarian termékeny
- termékenyof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Indonesian subur
- suburof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Irish torthúil, méiniúil
- torthúilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- méiniúilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- arúilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- méithof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- torthúilcapable of reproducing
- méithcapable of reproducing
Italian fertile, fertile
- fertileof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fertileof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
Japanese 肥沃な
- 肥沃な (hiyoku na)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Korean 걸다, 비옥(肥沃)하다
- 걸다 (geolda)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- 비옥(肥沃)하다 (biokhada)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Latin ferāx, fēcundus
- ferāxof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fēcundusof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fertilisof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- feraxcapable of reproducing
- fēcunduscapable of reproducing
- fertiliscapable of reproducing
Latvian auglīgs, ražīgs
- auglīgsof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- ražīgsof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- auglīgscapable of reproducing
- vaislīgscapable of reproducing
Lithuanian derlingas, vaisingas
- derlingasof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- vaisingascapable of reproducing
Malay subur, subur
- suburof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- suburof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- suburcapable of reproducing
Māori haumako, mōmona
- haumakoof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- mōmonaof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- matahuacapable of reproducing
- pukuhuacapable of reproducing
Norwegian Bokmål fruktbar, fruktbar
- fruktbarof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fruktbarcapable of reproducing
Persian حاصلخیز, بارور
- حاصلخیزof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- بارور (bārvar)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- برور (barvar)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Polish żyzny, urodzajny
- żyznyof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- urodzajnyof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- owocodajnyof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- bujnyof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- płodnycapable of reproducing
Portuguese fértil, fértil
- fértilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fértilof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- fértilcapable of reproducing
Romanian fertil
- fertilcapable of reproducing
Russian плодоро́дный
- плодоро́дный (plodoródnyj)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Spanish fértil, feraz
- fértilof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- ferazof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fértilof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- fértilcapable of reproducing
Swedish bördig, fertil
- bördigof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- fertilcapable of reproducing
Thai อุดมสมบูรณ์, อุดม
- อุดมสมบูรณ์of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- อุดม (ù-dom)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- สมบูรณ์ (sǒm-buun)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Turkish verimli, bitek
- verimliof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- bitekof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- mahsuldarof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- feyyazof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- gürof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
- üretkenof one’s imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific
- doğurgancapable of reproducing
- üretkencapable of reproducing
Ukrainian родю́чий
- родю́чий (rodjúčyj)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Urdu زرخیز
- زرخیز (zarxaiz)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Vietnamese màu mỡ
- màu mỡof land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Yiddish פֿרוכטבאַר
- פֿרוכטבאַר (frukhtbar)of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
firtlefurtle (one US pronunciation)
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
fertile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fertile
MLA
“fertile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fertile. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fertile,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fertile.
Source: fertile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.