English
fecund
Fecund comes from Latin fēcundus ‘fertile’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēcundus‘fertile’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fécond
- Englishearliest quotation 1906fecund
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēcundus‘fertile’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fécond
- Englishearliest quotation 1906fecund
Earliest quotation: 1906, Charles Sanders Peirce, The Basis of Pragmatism in the Normative Sciences: “This idea of Aristotle's has proved marvellously fecund; and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- ‘to suckle, nurse’
female, feminist, doe, feminism, tyre, fetus, dai, felicity, fawn, femme, femininity, filial, effeminate, fellatio, dahi, 30 more
Today it means
adj Highly fertile; able to produce offspring.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- / fecund