Make Your Point: FECUNDITY

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pronounce FECUNDITY:

fuh KUN duh tee

Hear it.

connect this word to others:

When you talk about the fecundity of life in the ocean, or the fecundity of characters and stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you're emphasizing how impressive it is that these places produce so many things. The underlying metaphor is fertility. It's as if the place is giving birth, again and again and again, to more and more offspring.

If you want a word that rests on that same metaphor but emphasizes the goodness or sweetness of the offspring, then instead of fecundity, you want the word f___tion.

Can you recall that one? Hint: It sounds juicy!

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

The word "fecundity" comes from the Latin fecundus, meaning "rich, abundant, fertile, or fruitful."

In a literal sense, fecundity is the ability for an animal to produce a lot of babies, or the ability of a plant, a land, or a place to produce a lot of crops.

In a figurative sense, fecundity is abundant productivity: the power or ability to create or produce a lot of things.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, usually the uncountable kind: "The poem celebrates the fecundity of springtime;" "His photos portray the fecundity of the jungle."

Rarely, the countable kind: "A fecundity of cello strings mixed with the silvery falsetto of birdsong washes over us" (Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore).

Other forms:

The adjective is "fecund," pronounced "FECK und." (Or, if you prefer, "FEE kund.") Hear it here.

There's also a verb, "fecundate," but it's rare, and it's used only in biological contexts.

Lastly, there are some precise opposites, but they're pretty rare: "infecund" and "infecundity."

how to use it:

Pick the formal, common, beautiful word "fecundity" (instead of similar words like "abundance," "fertility," or "productivity") when you want to sound serious, stylish, or old-fashioned.

You might use the word literally and talk about the fecundity of certain animals, or even humans.

But more likely, you'll talk about the fecundity of nature, or more specifically, the fecundity of a certain place, community, or ecosystem.

You might even get figurative and talk about the fecundity of someone's mind, intellect, imagination, or career, maybe that of an artist, a writer, or a musician; or about the fecundity of some movement or some period of time in art, literature, or music.

examples:

"In 'Outlawed,' marriages are celebrated for their fecundity, and mothers of lots of children enjoy considerable social power."
— Ron Charles, Washington Post, 7 January 2021

"[In Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook], one can only salute and marvel at the staggering fecundity of idea and insight."
— Ernest Buckler, New York Times, 1 July 1962

has this page helped you understand "fecundity"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "fecundity" without saying "abundance" or "proliferation."

try it out:

Think of a writer, a musician, an artist, or any other creator you love who has produced a lot of fantastic things.

Fill in the blanks: "To (read, listen to, watch, or view) (some collection of this creator's works) is to be shocked again by the fecundity of their genius."

Example 1: "To skim Elton John's discography on Eltonography.com is to be shocked again by the fecundity of his genius."

Example 2: "This is the fourth volume in the Hemingway Library series, and to read it is to be shocked again by the fecundity of his genius."
— Ron Charles, Washington Post, 20 July 2017

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for June is "Happy Stories in Hidden Cities."

I'll give you a sentence from a happy news story, along with a long word that contains all the letters, in order, of the name of the city in which the story takes place. And you give me the city.

Here's an example:

"A puppy was excited to experience his first-ever snowfall on Friday, November 11, after a winter storm swept through the area." FARRAGO.

The answer here is "Fargo," the city where this story takes place. You can spot the name FARGO inside FARRAGO.

Try this one today:

"[The city] has embarked on a mission to green up the city by creating 'pocket parks' out of unused plots formerly ridden with garbage and weeds… 'It's about creating green spaces, lowering the temperatures, giving quality of life, and creating new reference points inside the city,' said Mayor Kostas Bakoyanni." AESTHETICIANS.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. The precise opposite of FECUNDITY is INFECUNDITY, but a pretty close opposite of FECUNDITY is

A. HUMIDITY.
B. BARRENNESS.
C. CLEANLINESS.

2. Rachel Carson noted the fecundity of life itself: the "_____."

A. truly explosive power of a species to reproduce
B. power to kill every insect, the 'good' and the 'bad'
C. significant power [of man] to alter the nature of his world

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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