fecund

adjective

fe·​cund ˈfe-kənd  ˈfē- 

1

: fruitful in offspring or vegetation : prolific

a fecund breed of cattle

2

: intellectually productive or inventive to a marked degree

a fecund imagination

a fecund source of information

fecundity

fi-ˈkən-də-tē 

fe-

noun

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Fecund has been flourishing in the English language and describing fructuous things since the 15th century. It ultimately made its way into the English lexicon through the Latin adjective fecundus, meaning "fruitful." Fecund applies to things that yield offspring or fruit or results in abundance or with rapidity, as in "a fecund herd" or "a fecund imagination." Its synonyms fruitful and fertile also describe things that produce or are capable of producing offspring or fruit, literally or figuratively. Fruitful emphasizes abundance, too, often with the added implication that the results attained are desirable or useful ("fruitful plains," "a fruitful discussion"), while fertile implies the power to reproduce ("a fertile egg") or the power to assist in reproduction, growth, or development ("fertile soil," "a fertile climate for artists"). Fecund is a tad more literary and formal than either of these synonyms.

Synonyms

• cornucopian
• fat
• fertile
• fructuous
• fruitful
• lush
• luxuriant
• productive
• prolific
• rich

Choose the Right Synonym for fecund

fertile, fecund, fruitful, prolific mean producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit.

fertile implies the power to reproduce in kind or to assist in reproduction and growth

fertile soil

; applied figuratively, it suggests readiness of invention and development.

a fertile imagination

fecund emphasizes abundance or rapidity in bearing fruit or offspring.

a fecund herd

fruitful adds to fertile and fecund the implication of desirable or useful results.

fruitful research

prolific stresses rapidity of spreading or multiplying by or as if by natural reproduction.

a prolific writer

Examples of fecund in a Sentence

a fecund breed of cattle

the Franklin stove, bifocals, and the lightning rod are just a few of the inventions that we owe to the fecund creativity of Benjamin Franklin

Recent Examples on the Web

Others omit her altogether, capturing the natural realm unblemished by human presence, a fecund environment dotted with snakes and birds and fungi. —Ana Karina Zatarain, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2024

Granting all perturbation and backsliding, generous lives had been lived on that fecund soil, and a generous spirit inhered in it. —Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, 12 Oct. 2023

This also happened to be one of the most creatively fecund periods in the city’s history. —Ned Resnikoff, The New Republic, 2 Sep. 2023

Older females were significantly less fecund than young mature females, and were not more fecund than subadult females. —Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2018

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin fecundus — more at feminine

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

fecund

adjective

fe·​cund ˈfek-ənd  ˈfē-kənd 

1

: producing many offspring or much vegetation : prolific

2

: mentally productive or inventive

fecundity

fi-ˈkən-dət-ē 

noun

Medical Definition

fecund

adjective

fe·​cund ˈfek-ənd  ˈfēk- 

1

: characterized by having produced many offspring

2

: capable of producing : not sterile or barren

fecundity

fi-ˈkən-dət-ē, fe- 

noun

plural fecundities