different between productive vs useful

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin productivus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???d?kt?v/

Adjective

productive (comparative more productive, superlative most productive)

1. Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile.
2. Yielding good or useful results; constructive.
3. Of, or relating to the creation of goods or services.
4. (linguistics, of an affix or word construction rule) Consistently applicable to any of an open set of words.

   • Moreover, this relationship is a productive one, in the sense that when new Adjectives are created (e.g. ginormous concocted out of gigantic and enormous), then the corresponding Adverb form (in this case ginormously) can also be used. And in those exceptional cases where Adverbs do not end in -ly, they generally have the same form as the corresponding Adjective, as with hard, fast, etc.

5. (medicine) Of a cough, producing mucus or sputum from the respiratory tract.
6. (medicine) Of inflammation, producing new tissue.
7. (set theory) A type of set of natural numbers, related to mathematical logic.

Usage notes

In English, the plural suffix “-es” is productive because it can be appended to an open set of words (singular nouns ending in sibilants). Thus, if a new word with that pattern becomes an English noun (e.g. *examplex), it would have a default plural (e.g. *examplexes) because “-es” is productive.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:productive

Antonyms

Related terms

• productively
• productiveness
• productivity

Translations

References

• productive in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• productive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Adjective

productive

1. feminine singular of productif

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /pro?.duk?ti?.u?e/, [p?o?d??k?t?i?u??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pro.duk?ti.ve/, [p??d?uk?t?i?v?]

Adjective

pr?duct?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of pr?duct?vus

English

Etymology

From use +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ju?sf?l/

Adjective

useful (comparative usefuller or more useful, superlative usefullest or most useful)

1. Having a practical or beneficial use.

   Synonyms: noteful, serviceable, utilitarian, utile

   Antonyms: unuseful, useless, harmful

Usage notes

• Prepositions: useful is used in useful for <purpose>, useful for <person> and useful to <person>. The words useful to are also found in constructions such as It is useful to do, in which to marks an infinitive rather than being a preposition.

Derived terms

Translations