What does infertility mean?
Infertility means the inability to produce offspring. In its most common clinical sense, it refers to the failure to establish a pregnancy despite a sustained period of regular unprotected intercourse, although diagnosis and clinical definitions can depend on a couple's circumstances and medical guidance. The condition may involve either partner and can have biological, medical, or related factors behind it, so it is not properly understood as a personal failing. The word is also used figuratively for ideas, institutions, or environments that are unproductive or incapable of generating new ideas and development. In everyday conversation, people may use infertility more narrowly to mean difficulty conceiving, while clinicians may distinguish among infertility, impaired fertility, and other forms of reproductive failure. Its importance lies in connecting a common medical experience with the wider idea of barrenness or lack of productive potential.
nounThe inability to produce offspring. In medical contexts, it refers to the failure to establish a pregnancy after a sustained period of regular unprotected intercourse.
- The inability to reproduce, especially the failure to conceive or establish a pregnancy.
- A figurative lack of productivity, fertility, or creative development.
"The couple sought specialist advice after experiencing infertility for several years."
"Infertility can result from a range of medical and biological factors affecting either partner."
"The editor described the policy as a source of intellectual infertility within the organization."
The plural is used when referring to separate instances or types of infertility.
"The study compared different causes of infertilities among couples seeking treatment."
Infertility is a medical condition, not a character flaw: it can arise from many causes involving either partner and often requires specialist care.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does infertility come from?
Infertility is an English formation associated with infertile and ultimately with Latin infertilis, meaning “unfruitful” or “sterile.” Latin infertilis was formed with the negative prefix in- and fertilis, meaning “fertile” or “fruitful.” English fertility, fertilize, fertilizer, and infertile preserve elements of this same Latin root, making infertility part of a wider family of words concerned with productivity and reproduction.
How infertility is actually used
Infertility is primarily formal and medical. It is often discussed in clinical, educational, and personal-support contexts, where sensitive wording is appropriate. The figurative sense is less common and generally critical rather than neutral.
Easily confused with infertility
Impotence refers to an inability to complete sexual intercourse, whereas infertility refers to an inability to conceive or produce offspring, so one does not necessarily imply the other.