Standard Lemma guide

sterility

noun · 3 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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S T ER0 IH1 L IH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or quality of being sterile.

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

2

noun

Meaning 2

the state of being unable to produce offspring; in a woman it is an inability to conceive; in a man it is an inability to impregnate

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: infertility

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: physical condition, physiological state, physiological condition

Narrower terms: impotence, impotency, barrenness, cacogenesis, dysgenesis

3

noun

Meaning 3

(of non-living objects) the state of being free of pathogenic organisms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: asepsis, antisepsis, sterileness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sanitariness

History

Etymology

From Middle English sterylite, sterylyte, from Latin sterilitās. By surface analysis, sterile + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: безплодие (bezplodie) — state of being sterile
  • Bulgarian: стерилитет (sterilitet) — state of being sterile
  • Catalan: esterilitat — state of being sterile
  • Czech: neplodnost — state of being sterile
  • Dutch: steriliteit — state of being sterile
  • Esperanto: senfrukteco — state of being sterile
  • Esperanto: sterileco — state of being sterile
  • Galician: esterilidade — state of being sterile
  • German: Sterilität — state of being sterile
  • Greek: αγονία (agonía) — state of being sterile
  • Ancient Greek: ἀγονία (agonía) — state of being sterile
  • Interlingua: sterilitate — state of being sterile
  • Italian: sterilità — state of being sterile
  • Old English: unwæstmbǣrnes — state of being sterile
  • Polish: bezpłodność — state of being sterile
  • Portuguese: esterilidade — state of being sterile
  • Spanish: esterilidad — state of being sterile
  • Swahili: ugumba — state of being sterile
  • Tamil: மலடு (malaṭu) — state of being sterile
  • Turkish: kısırlık — state of being sterile
  • Ottoman Turkish: قیصیرلق (kısırlık) — state of being sterile