Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fertile
Fer′tile
(? or ?; 277)
, Adj.
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. Shakespeare
2.
(Bot.)
(a)
Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing;
as,
. fertile
flowers(b)
Containing pollen; – said of anthers.
3.
produced in abundance; plenteous; ample.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Fertile
FER'TILE
,Adj.
1.
Fruitful; rich; producing fruit in abundance; as fertile land, ground, soil, fields or meadows. This word in America is rarely applied to trees, or to animals, but to land. It formerly had of before the thing producing; as fertile of all kinds of grain: but in is now used; fertile in grain.2.
Rich; having abundant resources; prolific; productive; inventive; able to produce abundantly; as a fertile genius, mind or imagination.