| 释义 |
unˈfertile, a. and n.
(un-1 7 and 5 b.)
1596Edward III, i. ii. 151 The ground..Seemes barrayne, sere, vnfertill. 1620Markham Farew. Husb. (1625) 24 That barren and unfertile earth,..which is overrunne only with whinnes. 1661J. Childrey Brit. Bacon. 51 These unfertile beds do intersect each other. 1792Resid. France (1797) I. 121 Unfertile, neglected vallies and hills. 1818Colebrooke Import Colonial Corn 104 The permanent improvement of poor and unfertile land. 1865W. G. Palgrave Arabia II. 244 A not unfertile strip of coast.
fig.1616R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 110 The abortive issue of my vnfertile braine. 1667Decay Chr. Piety xix. ⁋12 Peace is not..such a sapless unfertile thing. 1866Whipple Char. & Charac. Men 54 The thought..would not come into that unfertile brain.
b. n. An unfertile egg.
1891Bazaar 20 Feb. 269/3 Purchasers should always make sure that unfertiles will be replaced before giving their orders. Ibid., I returned the unfertiles carriage paid.
Hence unˈfertileness, unferˈtility.
1611Cotgr., Infecondité,..vnfertilnesse, vnfruitfulnesse. 188819th Cent. June 834 The unfertility of the soil. 1899M. Kingsley W. African Stud. xi. 279 The unfertility of the greater part of their country. |