Etymologically
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productive

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 08:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/, /pɹəˈdʌk.təv/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French productif or directly borrowed from Medieval Latin productīvus (“fit for production”),[2][3][4] from productus, the past participle of prōdūcere (“to bring forth”) (see produce).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Producing or tending to produce: 1612.[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Causing or resulting in something, productive of, is from 1647.[5] Fertile, producing abundantly, is from 1706.[2] In political economy, producing wealth or value is from 1776.[5] A productive cough brings up mucus (1923).[5] Achieving a lot, as a productive meeting, is a common modern use.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1612 – tending to produce.[5]
  • 1647 – causing.[5]
  • 1706 – fertile.[2]
  • 1776 – in economics.[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Producing a great deal; achieving useful results.
  2. Producing goods or crops; fertile.
  3. (economics) Producing goods and services that have value.

Word family

  • productively
  • productiveness
  • semiproductive

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin