different between fallow vs infertile

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fæl??/
• (US) enPR: f?l??, IPA^(key): /?fælo?/
• Rhymes: -æl??

Etymology 1

From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealh (“fallow land”), from Proto-West Germanic *falgu (compare Saterland Frisian falge, Dutch valg, German Felge), from Proto-Indo-European *pol?éh? (“arable land”) (compare Gaulish olca, Russian ??????? (polosá)).

Noun

fallow (countable and uncountable, plural fallows)

1. (agriculture, uncountable) Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.
2. (agriculture, uncountable) Uncultivated land.
3. The ploughing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season.
   • 1832, Sir John Sinclair, The Code of Agriculture

     By a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow. The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow crop.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fallow (comparative more fallow, superlative most fallow)

1. (of agricultural land) Ploughed but left unseeded for more than one planting season.
2. (of agricultural land) Left unworked and uncropped for some amount of time.
3. (figuratively) Inactive; undeveloped.

Synonyms

• (figuratively inactive): abeyant, dormant, latent; see also Thesaurus:inactive

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English falowen, falwen, from Old English fealgian (“to fallow; break up land”), from Proto-West Germanic *falg?n (“to fallow”). Cognate with Dutch valgen (“to plow lightly; fallow”), German Low German falgen (“to till; dig a hole”).

Verb

fallow (third-person singular simple present fallows, present participle fallowing, simple past and past participle fallowed)

1. (transitive) To make land fallow for agricultural purposes.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealu, from Proto-Germanic *falwaz (compare West Frisian feal, Dutch vaal, German falb, fahl), from Proto-Indo-European *polwos (compare Lithuanian pal?vas (“sallow, wan”), Russian ??????? (polovyj, “wan, light yellow”), Serbo-Croatian plâv (“blond, blue”), Ancient Greek ?????? (poliós, “grey”)), from Proto-Indo-European *pelH- (“pale, gray”).

Adjective

fallow (comparative more fallow, superlative most fallow)

2. (color) Of a pale red or yellow, light brown; dun.

Related terms

• fallow deer

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “fallow”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Etymology

From Middle French infertile, from Late Latin infertilis.

Adjective

infertile (comparative more infertile, superlative most infertile)

1. Not fertile.

Antonyms

• fertile

Related terms

• infertility

Translations

Anagrams

• interfile

French

Adjective

infertile (plural infertiles)

1. infertile

Antonyms

• fertile

Related terms

• infertilité

See also

• stérile

Further reading

• “infertile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

infertile

1. inflection of infertil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

infertile (plural infertili)

1. infertile
2. barren

Antonyms

• fertile

Related terms

• infertilità

See also

• sterile