01 a. Producing fruit or vegetation in abundance; fruitful; able to produce abundantly; prolific; fecund; productive; rich; inventive; as, fertil…
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1.
Producing fruit or vegetation in abundance; fruitful; able to produce abundantly; prolific; fecund; productive; rich; inventive; as, fertile land or fields; a fertile mind or imagination.“Though he in a fertile climate dwell.” — Shak.
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2.
Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing; as, fertile flowers.(Bot.)
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3.
produced in abundance; plenteous; ample.“Henceforth, my early care . . . Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease Of thy full branches.” — Milton.
Syn.
Fertile, Fruitful.
Fertile implies the inherent power of production; fruitful, the act. The prairies of the West are fertile by nature, and are turned by cultivation into fruitful fields. The same distinction prevails when these words are used figuratively. A man of fertile genius has by nature great readiness of invention; one whose mind is fruitful has resources of thought and a readiness of application which enable him to think and act effectively.