fertility

fertility
/feuhr til"i tee/, n.
1. the state or quality of being fertile.
2. Biol. the ability to produce offspring; power of reproduction: the amazing fertility of rabbits.
3. the birthrate of a population.
4. (of soil) the capacity to supply nutrients in proper amounts for plant growth when other factors are favorable.
[1375-1425; late ME fertilite ( < MF) < L fertilitas. See FERTILE, -ITY]

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Ability of an individual or couple to reproduce through normal sexual activity.

About 80% of healthy, fertile women are able to conceive within one year if they have intercourse regularly without contraception. Normal fertility requires the production of enough healthy sperm by the male and viable eggs by the female, successful passage of the sperm through open ducts from the male testes to the female fallopian tubes, penetration of a healthy egg, and implantation of the fertilized egg in the lining of the uterus (see reproductive system). A problem with any of these steps can cause infertility.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Fertility — is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, Fertility Rate is the number of children born per couple, person or population. This is different from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction (influenced by gamete… …   Wikipedia

  • fertility — fertility, fertility rate The actual level of childbearing of an individual or population. There are different ways of measuring the fertility of a population. The simplest measure, the crude birth rate , relates the number of live births in a… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • Fertility — Fer*til i*ty, n. [L. fertilitas: cf. F. fertilit[ e].] The state or quality of being fertile or fruitful; fruitfulness; productiveness; fecundity; richness; abundance of resources; fertile invention; quickness; readiness; as, the fertility of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fertility — early 15c., from M.Fr. fertilité, from L. fertilitatem (nom. fertilitas) fruitfulness, fertility, from fertilis (see FERTILE (Cf. fertile)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • fertility — fertility. См. фертильность. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • fertility — index maternity Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • fertility — fruitfulness, fecundity, prolificacy (see under FERTILE) Antonyms: infertility, sterility Contrasted words: impotence or impotency, barrenness, unfruitfulness (see corresponding adjectives at STERILE) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • fertility — [n] readiness to bear, produce abundance, copiousness, fecundity, feracity, fruitfulness, generative capacity, gravidity, luxuriance, plentifulness, potency, pregnancy, productiveness, productivity, prolificacy, prolificity, puberty, pubescence,… …   New thesaurus

  • fertility — [fər til′ə tē] n. 1. the quality, state, or degree of being fertile; fecundity 2. the birthrate of a given population …   English World dictionary

  • fertility — fer|til|i|ty [ fɜr tıləti ] noun uncount * 1. ) the ability of the soil to produce a lot of good crops or plants: measures to improve the fertility of the soil 2. ) a woman s ability to have babies: Utah has the highest fertility rate in the… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • fertility */ — UK [fɜː(r)ˈtɪlətɪ] / US [fɜrˈtɪlətɪ] noun [uncountable] 1) the ability of the soil to produce a lot of good crops or plants measures to improve the fertility of the soil 2) a) a woman s ability to have babies Utah has the highest fertility rate… …   English dictionary

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