Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fertile

/ˈfɝːtəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.62 in modern English

Syllables
fer-tile
IPA
/ˈfɝːtəl/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.

adj

Of one's imagination, etc.: active, productive, prolific.

adj

Capable of reproducing; fecund, fruitful.

adj

Capable of developing past the egg stage.

adj

Not itself fissile, but able to be converted into a fissile material by irradiation in a reactor.

name

A city and township in Iowa.

name

A city in Minnesota.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English, from Middle French fertile, from Old French fertile, from Latin fertilis (“fruitful, fertile”), from ferō (“to bear, carry”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: -, fertile, fertilis

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈfɝːtəl/
  • British English: /ˈfɜːtaɪl/

Inflected Forms

more fertile (comparative) most fertile (superlative)

Derived Forms

equifertile fertilely fertilin fertiloscope fertiloscopy hyperfertile hypofertile interfertile nonfertile overfertile postfertile prefertile

Phrases

cross-fertile fertile as a turtle Fertile Belt Fertile Crescent Fertile Valley self-fertile

Frequently Paired Words

fertilisation fertilization fertilise fertilize fertiliser fertilizer fertility fertileness

Synonyms

fat productive prolific pregnant batful luxuriant fertile fruitful thriving yielding yieldly voluminous

Homonyms

firtle furtle (one US pronunciation)

Antonyms

barren infertile sterile

Rhymes With

turtle myrtle infertile hurtle hertel ertl ertel purtell pirtle ertle purtle

Questions

How do you pronounce fertile?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfɝːtəl/.
What does fertile mean?
Of land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.
Where does fertile come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce fertile

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fertile”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfɝːtəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fertile”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “fertile” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.