fértil

Forms

fértil m or f (plural férteis)^[1] The old plural was fertiles, recorded in the 16th century;^[2][3] Morais (1813) still quotes it from older authors but notes that férteis is the usual form.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fertilis (“fruitful, productive”), a learned word.^[4][2][5][1] The Latin adjective is formed from ferō (“to carry, bear”) with the suffix -ilis; the -t- probably comes from other adjectives in -tilis built on participle stems.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates the word to the 16th century, from the plural fertiles;^[2][4] Houaiss's first record is of about 1677.^[2][4] Its first sense is that of land producing a great deal.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) uses it of land and fields and of a year abundant in crops.^[7] Morais (1813) adds the figurative engenho fértil, a fertile mind.^[3] Caldas Aulete has it for a subject open to great development, and the modern dictionaries add the biological sense “able to reproduce” and the woman's período fértil.^[8][9][10]

Timeline

• 16th century – the plural fertiles is recorded.^[2]
• c. 1677 – Houaiss's first record of fértil.^[4]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives terra fertil and anno fertil.^[7]
• 1813 – Morais records the figurative engenho fértil and the old plural fertiles.^[3]
• 1836 – first records of fertilização, fertilizante and infértil, in Constâncio's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of land, producing much; fertile, fruitful: uma planície fértil.^[4][11][1]
2. Abundant, plentiful; rich in something: um mês fértil em notícias.^[4][11]
3. (figurative) Able to produce ideas easily; inventive, creative: imaginação fértil.^[4][11][8]
4. Open to great development; profitable: um assunto fértil.^[4][11]
5. (biology) Able to reproduce or to conceive; of an egg, able to develop into a new individual.^[9][8][1]

Word family

• fertilidade
• fertilização
• fertilizante
• fertilizar
• infértil
• infertilidade

Related words

• fecundo
• estéril
• Latin fertilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fértil
3. ^ a b c d Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 16
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fértil
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. fértil
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. fertilis
7. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fértil
8. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. fértil
9. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. fértil
10. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. fértil
11. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fértil