English → Latin
“fertile” in Latin
fēcundusfertile or fruitful; productive (of offspring) or prolific; abundant, prolific, plentifulfertilisfruitful, fertile; productiveferāxfruitful, fertileūbera teat, pap, dug, udder, a lactating breast; richness, fruitfulnessfrūgiferfructiferous; fruitful, fertilefrūctuōsusfruitful, productive; profitable, advantageous
The English word fertile itself goes back to Latin ferō, through fertilis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
fertile
fecundus (denotes the fruitfulness of a living and breeding being, opposed to effetus, εὔτοκος): fertilis: ferax (denote the fruitfulness of inanimate and productive nature, and of the elements; opposed to sterilis; εὔφορος: fertilis, of the actual fruitfulness which has been produced by cultivation; ferax, of the mere capability which arises from the nature of the soil. Cic. uses fertilis, PROP.; ferax, figuratively): uber (fertilis and ferax denote fruitfulness under the image of creative and productive power, as of the father and mother; uber, under the image of fostering and sustaining, as of the nurse, like εὐθηνής): frugifer (denotes fertility under the image of a corn-field): fructuosus (under the image of a tree rich in fruit; ἔγκαρπος, Döderlein). (The words are found in this connection and order.) uber et fertilis; fecundus et uber.
IMPROPR., ferax: fecundus: uber. (The words are found in this connection and order.) uber et fecundus. A fertile genius, ingenium ferax or fecundum: a fertile imagination, ingenii ubertas: no branch of philosophy is more fertile than that which treats of the duties of man, nullus in philosophia locus est feracior neque uberior, quam de officiis.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for fertile?
- The usual Latin words for “fertile” are fēcundus, fertilis, ferāx; also ūber, frūgifer, frūctuōsus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.