Fecundity
/fɪˈkʌn.dɪ.ti/noun
The quality of being fertile, fruitful, or highly productive.
Did you know?Fecundity comes from Latin *fecundus*, meaning “fruitful” or “fertile,” and it ultimately traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to make, do, or produce” — the same deep root family behind some of English’s most ordinary words.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰeh₁-
“to put, set, make, do”
Latin
Latin
facere
“to make, do, perform”
Latin
Latin
fecundus
“fruitful, fertile, productive”
Old French
Old French
fecundité
“fertility, fruitfulness”
Middle English
English
fecundite
“fertility, productiveness”
Modern English
English
fecundity
“fertility; ability to produce abundantly”