fructuous

adjective

fruc·​tu·​ous ˈfrək-chə-wəs 

ˈfru̇k,

-chü-əs

: fruitful

a fructuous land

Did you know?

In Latin the word fructus means both "fruit" and "enjoyment" or "use." A rich crop of English derivatives grew from that root, including "fructuous," "fructose" (a sugar found in fruits), "fruition" ("the state of bearing fruit"), "usufruct" ("the right to use or enjoy something"), and even "fruit" itself. "Fructuous" comes from the Middle French adjective fructueux and the Latin adjective fructuosus, both ultimately derived from "fructus."

Synonyms

• cornucopian
• fat
• fecund
• fertile
• fruitful
• lush
• luxuriant
• productive
• prolific
• rich

Examples of fructuous in a Sentence

settlers gradually migrated from the rocky shores to more fructuous lands

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fructuous, frutuose, fruytous "fruitful, prolific, yielding results, productive," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French fructuous, fructueux "fruitful, profitable," borrowed from Latin frūctuōsus "fruitful, productive, lucrative, advantageous," from frūctu-, stem of frūctus "useful products of nature, fruit, profit, advantage" + -ōsus -ous — more at fruit entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

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