From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fertile \Fer"tile\ (? or ?; 277), adjective [L. fertilis, fr. ferre to bear, produce: cf. F. fertile. See {Bear} to support.]
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. --Shak.
2. (Bot.) (a) Capable of producing fruit; fruit-bearing; as, fertile flowers. (b) Containing pollen; -- said of anthers.
3. produced in abundance; plenteous; ample.
Henceforth, my early care . . . Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease Of thy full branches. --Milton.
Usage: 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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: capable of reproducing [ant: {sterile}]
2: intellectually productive; "a prolific writer"; "a fecund imagination" [syn: {fecund}, {prolific}]
3: bearing in abundance especially offspring; "flying foxes are extremely prolific"; "a prolific pear tree" [syn: {prolific}]
4: marked by great fruitfulness; "fertile farmland"; "a fat land"; "a productive vineyard"; "rich soil" [syn: {fat}, {productive}, {rich}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
90 Moby Thesaurus words for "fertile": abounding, abundant, affluent, all-sufficing, ample, aplenty, blooming, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, bursting, bursting out, conceptive, conceptual, copious, creative, diffuse, effuse, epidemic, esemplastic, exhaustless, extravagant, exuberant, fat, fecund, flourishing, flush, fructiferous, fructuous, fruitful, full, galore, generative, generous, germinal, ideational, ideative, imaginative, in plenty, in quantity, inexhaustible, ingenious, inspired, inventive, lavish, liberal, lush, luxuriant, many, maximal, much, notional, numerous, opulent, original, originative, overflowing, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, pregnant, prevailing, prevalent, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, proliferous, prolific, rampant, replete, rich, rife, riotous, running over, seminal, shaping, superabundant, swarming, teeming, thriving, uberous, visioned, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale
From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:
Fertile, IA (city, FIPS 27390) Location: 43.26487 N, 93.42258 W Population (1990): 382 (161 housing units) Area: 2.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 50434 Fertile, MN (city, FIPS 20978) Location: 47.53207 N, 96.29134 W Population (1990): 853 (421 housing units) Area: 4.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 56540
From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:
Fertile, IA -- U.S. city in Iowa Population (2000): 360 Housing Units (2000): 161 Land area (2000): 0.940131 sq. miles (2.434927 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.940131 sq. miles (2.434927 sq. km) FIPS code: 27390 Located within: Iowa (IA), FIPS 19 Location: 43.264704 N, 93.421176 W ZIP Codes (1990): 50434 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Fertile, IA Fertile
From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:
Fertile, MN -- U.S. city in Minnesota Population (2000): 893 Housing Units (2000): 433 Land area (2000): 1.892536 sq. miles (4.901645 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.892536 sq. miles (4.901645 sq. km) FIPS code: 20978 Located within: Minnesota (MN), FIPS 27 Location: 47.533529 N, 96.283303 W ZIP Codes (1990): 56540 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Fertile, MN Fertile
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