different between fecundity vs infertility

English

Alternative forms

• fœcundity (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin f?cundit?s (“fruitfulness, fertility”), from f?cundus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /f??k?nd?t?/
• Hyphenation: fe?cun?di?ty

Noun

fecundity (usually uncountable, plural fecundities)

1. Ability to produce offspring.
   • 2006, Neil Gaiman, “Neil Gaiman on Terry Pratchett” in: Good Omens, Corgi, p. 410

     In the early days the reviewers compared him to the late Douglas Adams, but then Terry went on to write books as enthusiastically as Douglas avoided writing them, and now, if there is any comparison to be made of anything from the formal rules of a Pratchett novel to the sheer prolific fecundity of the man, it might be to P. G. Wodehouse.

2. Ability to cause growth.
3. Number, rate, or capacity of offspring production.
4. Rate of production of young by a female.

Synonyms

• (ability to produce offspring): fertileness, fertility

Related terms

• fecund
• fecundation

Translations

Further reading

• fecundity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• fecundity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• fecundity in the Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, English section, second edition, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, Liège, 1982
• fecundity at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Middle French infertilité, from Late Latin infertilitas.

Noun

infertility (countable and uncountable, plural infertilities)

1. The condition of being infertile; of having poor fertility.

   Soil infertility is a major problem for farmers.

2. The inability to conceive children.

   Infertility is a considerable obstacle for women wishing to make a family.

Related terms

• fertility
• infertile

Translations

See also

• sterility