- 1(of land or soil) that plants grow well in a fertile region opposite infertile Wordfinderlandscapebarren, fertile, landscape, lush, mountainous, rolling, rugged, undulate, volcanic, wooded Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, look, become, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry See related entries: Other geographic regions, Describing geographic regions
- 2(of people, animals or plants) that can produce babies, young animals, fruit or new plants The treatment has been tested on healthy fertile women under the age of 35. opposite infertile Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, look, become, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry
- 3[usually before noun] that produces good results; that encourages activity a fertile partnership The region at the time was fertile ground for revolutionary movements (= there were the necessary conditions for them to develop easily).
- 4[usually before noun] (of a person’s mind or imagination) that produces a lot of new ideas the product of a fertile imagination compare sterile Word Originlate Middle English: via French from Latin fertilis, from ferre ‘to bear’.Extra examples women who proved particularly fertile The region at the time was fertile ground for revolutionary movements. a fertile region/valley a fertile source of argument/dispute the product of a fertile brain/imagination/mind
fertile
adjectiveBrE BrE//ˈfɜːtaɪl//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɜːrtl//
Other geographic regions, Describing geographic regionsCheck pronunciation: fertile
