productive

English

Adjective

productive (comparative more productive, superlative most productive)

1. Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile
2. yielding good or useful results; constructive
3. Of, or relating to the creation of goods or services
4. (linguistics, of an affix or word construction rule) consistently applicable to any of an open set of words

Usage notes

In English, the plural suffix “-es” is productive because it can be appended to an open set of words (singular nouns ending in sibilants). Thus, if a new word with that pattern becomes an English noun (e.g. *examplex), it would have a default plural (e.g. *examplexes) because “-es” is productive.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:productive

Antonyms

• unproductive
• nonproductive

Related terms

• productively
• productiveness

Translations

capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile

Catalan: productiu (ca) Czech: produktivní (cs)

Romanian: productiv (ro), fertil (ro), rodnic (ro) Spanish: productivo (es)

yielding good or useful results; constructive

Catalan: productiu (ca)

Spanish: productivo (es)

of, or relating to the creation of goods or services

consistently applicable to any of an open set of words

Hungarian: termékeny (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: productif m., productive f.

References

• productive in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• productive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913