Standard Lemma guide

fertility

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /fə(ɹ)ˈtɪlɪti/
  • US: /fɝˈtɪləti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪlɪti
  • CMU ARPABET: F ER0 T IH1 L AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: F ER0 T IH1 L IH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The condition, or the degree, of being fertile.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Muckspreading increases the fertility of the soil.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The birthrate of a population; the number of live births per 1000 people per year.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The average number of births per woman within a population.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the property of producing abundantly and sustaining vigorous and luxuriant growth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he praised the richness of the soil
  • weeds lovely in their rankness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: richness, rankness, prolificacy

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fruitfulness, fecundity

5

noun

Meaning 5

the state of being fertile; capable of producing offspring

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fecundity

Antonyms: infertility

Broader terms: physical condition, physiological state, physiological condition

6

noun

Meaning 6

the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: birthrate, birth rate, fertility rate, natality

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rate

History

Etymology

From Middle French fertilité, from Latin fertilitās, equivalent to fertile + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: vrugbaarheid — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Arabic: خُصُوبَة (ḵuṣūba) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Arabic: خصوبة (xoṣoba) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Azerbaijani: münbitlik — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Catalan: fertilitat — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Chinese Mandarin: 肥沃 (féiwò) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Chinese Mandarin: 繁殖力 (fánzhílì) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Chinese Mandarin: 生殖力 (shēngzhílì) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Chinese Mandarin: 生育力 (shēngyùlì) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Czech: plodnost — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Danish: frugtbarhed — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Dutch: vruchtbaarheid — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Finnish: hedelmällisyys — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • French: fertilité — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Galician: fertilidade — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • German: Fruchtbarkeit — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Greek: γονιμότητα (gonimótita) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Ancient Greek: γονιμότης (gonimótēs) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Hebrew: פּוֹרִיּוּת (poriút) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Hindi: उपजाऊपन (upjāūpan) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Indonesian: fertilitas — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Indonesian: kesuburan — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Latin: fertilitās — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Latvian: auglīgums — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Latvian: auglība — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Latvian: vaislīgums — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Latvian: vaislība — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Malay: kesuburan — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Māori: makurutanga — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Māori: momonatanga — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fruktbarhet — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fruktbarheit — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: frævleik — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: økslingsevne — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Old English: wæstmbǣrnes — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Polish: płodność — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Portuguese: fertilidade — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Romanian: fertilitate — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Russian: плодоро́дие (plodoródije) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Russian: плодови́тость (plodovítostʹ) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Serbo-Croatian: plodnost — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Spanish: fertilidad — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Swedish: fruktsamhet — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Turkish: doğurganlık — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Turkish: verimlilik — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Welsh: ffrwythlondeb — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Yiddish: פֿרוכטבאַרקייט (frukhtbarkeyt) — the condition, or the degree of being fertile
  • Danish: fertilitet — the birthrate of a population
  • Danish: fertilitetskvotient — the birthrate of a population
  • Danish: fødselshyppighed — the birthrate of a population
  • Finnish: hedelmällisyys — the birthrate of a population
  • Indonesian: fertilitas — the birthrate of a population
  • Indonesian: kesuburan — the birthrate of a population
  • Lithuanian: gimstamumas — the birthrate of a population
  • Malay: kesuburan — the birthrate of a population
  • Māori: matahuatanga — the birthrate of a population
  • Portuguese: fertilidade — the birthrate of a population
  • Russian: рожда́емость (roždájemostʹ) — the birthrate of a population
  • Spanish: fertilidad — the birthrate of a population
  • Turkish: doğum oranı — the birthrate of a population
Real reading context

fertility in complete knowledge articles