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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/
Received-Pronunciation:/-vɪti/
British, Southern, Standard:/ˌpɹɔdʌkˈtɪvətɪj/
British, Southern, Standard:/-vɪtɪj/
Canada, US:/ˌpɹoʊdʌkˈtɪvəti/
Canada, US:[ˌpɹoʊdʌkˈtɪvəɾi]
Canada, US:/ˌpɹɑdʌkˈtɪvəti/
Canada, US:[ˌpɹɑdʌkˈtɪvəɾi]
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/ˌpɹɔdɐkˈtɪvəti/
Australian:[ˌpɹɔdɐkˈtɪvəɾi]
Northern-England:/ˌpɹɒdʊkˈtɪvəti/
Northern-England:/-vɪti/
Scotland:/ˌpɹɔdʌkˈtɪvəte/
Scotland:/-vɪte/
CMU ARPABET:P R OW2 D AH0 K T IH1 V AH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:P R OW2 D AH0 K T IH1 V IH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The state of being productive, fertile, or efficient.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: productiveness
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers; those workers' degree of efficiency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The rate at which crops are grown on a standard area of land.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The ability to form new words using established patterns and discrete linguistic elements, such as the derivational affixes -ness and -ity; the degree to which such formation happens.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
the quality of being productive or having the power to produce
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: productiveness
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: fruitfulness, fecundity
6
noun
Meaning 6
(economics) the ratio of the quantity and quality of units produced to the labor per unit of time
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: ratio
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *dewk- Proto-Indo-European *déwkti Proto-Italic *doukō Latin dūcō Latin prōdūcō Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin prōductīvusbor. English productive Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English productivity From productive + -ity.
Across languages
Translations
42 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
إنْتَاجِيَّة
(ʔintājiyya)
— state of being productive
Armenian:
արդյունավետություն
(ardyunavetutʻyun)
— state of being productive
Catalan:
productivitat
— state of being productive
Chinese Mandarin:
生產力 /生产力
(shēngchǎnlì)
— state of being productive
Chinese Mandarin:
效率
(xiàolǜ)
— state of being productive
Czech:
produktivita
— state of being productive
Dutch:
vruchtbaar
— state of being productive
Esperanto:
produktiveco
— state of being productive
Finnish:
tuottavuus
— state of being productive
Finnish:
tuotteliaisuus
— state of being productive
Finnish:
hedelmällisyys
— state of being productive
Finnish:
tehokkuus
— state of being productive
French:
productivité
— state of being productive
German:
Produktivität
— state of being productive
German:
Leistungsfähigkeit
— state of being productive
Greek:
παραγωγικότητα
(paragogikótita)
— state of being productive
Indonesian:
keproduktifan
— state of being productive
Irish:
táirgiúlacht
— state of being productive
Irish:
bisiúlacht
— state of being productive
Italian:
produttività
— state of being productive
Japanese:
生産性
(seisansei)
— state of being productive
Khmer:
ផលិតភាព
(pho lit pheap)
— state of being productive
Norwegian Bokmål:
produktivitet
— state of being productive
Norwegian Nynorsk:
produktivitet
— state of being productive
Polish:
produktywność
— state of being productive
Portuguese:
produtividade
— state of being productive
Romanian:
productivitate
— state of being productive
Russian:
производи́тельность
(proizvodítelʹnostʹ)
— state of being productive
Russian:
продукти́вность
(produktívnostʹ)
— state of being productive
Spanish:
productividad
— state of being productive
Tagalog:
pagkamalalangin
— state of being productive
Thai:
ผลิตภาพ
(pà-lìt-dtà-pâap)
— state of being productive
Armenian:
արտադրողականություն
(artadroġakanutʻyun)
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Finnish:
tuottavuus
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Finnish:
joutuisuus
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Polish:
produktywność
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Romanian:
productivitate
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Russian:
производи́тельность
(proizvodítelʹnostʹ)
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Tagalog:
pagkamalalangin
— rate at which goods or services are produced by a standard population of workers
Armenian:
բերքատվություն
(berkʻatvutʻyun)
— rate at which crops are grown on a standard area of land
Finnish:
satoisuus
— rate at which crops are grown on a standard area of land
Tagalog:
pagkamalalangin
— rate at which crops are grown on a standard area of land
