Fecund

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈfiː.kÉ™nd/, /ˈfÉ›.kÉ™nd/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒnd

Alternative forms

• fÅ“cund hypercorrect, obsolete

Origin

From Middle French fécond, from Latin fecundus ("fertile"), which is related to fētus and fēmina ("woman").

Full definition of fecund

Adjective

1. (formal) Highly fertile; able to produce offspring.
• 2001, Massimo Livi Bacci, A Concise History of World Population‎, page 9The number of children per woman depends, as has been said, on biological and social factors which determine: (1) the frequency of births during a woman's fecund period, and (2) the portion of the fecund period--between puberty and menopause--effectively utilized for reproduction.
2. (figuratively) Leading to new ideas or innovation.
• 1906, Charles Sanders Pierce, "The Basis of Pragmatism in the Normative Sciences", in The Essential Pierce: Selected Philosophical Writings‎, volume II, page 373This idea of Aristotle's has proved marvellously fecund; and in truth it is the only idea covering quite the whole area of cenoscopy that has shown any marked uberosity.

Synonyms

• (highly fertile) fertile
• (leading to new ideas or innovation) fertile, productive, prolific

Related terms

• fecundity