unbearingadj.
Unfertile, unproductive, barren.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > productiveness > unproductiveness > [adjective]
unbearingc825
deafc897
westyOE
wastumlessc975
wilderna1050
drya1340
gelda1350
barren1377
unfructuousa1382
poora1387
ungreenc1400
infecundc1420
farrow1494
fruitlessa1513
unfruitful1531
sterile1552
hungry1577
penurious1594
unfertile1596
infertile1598
howling1611
ungenitureda1616
arid1656
infecundous1661
ungendering1706
yeld1721
unproductive1725
infructuose1727
ungenerative1733
fallow1791
nihili-parturient1812
dowf1824
wastec1825
non-productive1830
unreproductive1836
infructuous1860
unvintaged1869
increative1877
ablastemic1881
submarginal1895
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [adjective] > infertile
unbearingc825
geasonOE
unkindc1330
barren1377
unfructuousa1382
poora1387
leanc1420
exile?1440
salt1535
unfruitful?1542
sterile1572
dead1577
unlusty1580
queasy1593
heartless1594
unfertile1596
emacerated1610
sapless1655
unprolific1672
uncivil1676
ungrateful1681
worn1681
teemless1687
unproductive1725
poorish1767
ill-conditioned1796
scanty1797
rammelly1808
starve-acre1891
c825 Vesp. Psalter cxii. 9 Se eardian doeð unbeorende [L. sterilem] in huse modur bearna.
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xv. 2 (margin) Þæt unberende treo he genimes.
c1000 Ælfric Deut. vii. 13 Ne bið mid eow nan þing unberendes ne on mannum ne on nytenum.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 125 Þe holi man..was of michel elde, & his woreldes make was..unberinde.
1685 J. Dryden tr. Horace Epode ii, in Sylvæ sig. K6v [He] Does..with his pruneing hook disjoyn Unbearing Branches from their Head.
1863 J. G. Murphy Crit. Comm. Bk. Gen. (ii. 6) 91 Unwittingly provide a store for the unbearing period of the year.
1874 C. R. Smith Rural Life Shaks. 4 Fruit-trees must be continually lacerated to decrease the growth of unbearing wood.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.c825