productive

English Online Dictionary. What means productive‎? What does productive mean?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin productivus, equivalent to product +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/, /pɹəˈdʌk.təv/

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.
5. (linguistics, of an affix or word construction rule) Consistently applicable to any of an open set of words.
6. (medicine) Of a cough, producing mucus or sputum from the respiratory tract.
7. (medicine) Of inflammation, producing new tissue.
8. (set theory) A type of set of natural numbers, related to mathematical logic; a set ${displaystyle S}$ is productive if there exists a total recursive function ${displaystyle f}$ such that ${displaystyle \forall x\in \mathbb ,~~W_\subseteq S\Rightarrow f(x)\in A\setminus W_}$, where ${displaystyle W_}$ is a recursive function whose Gödel number is ${displaystyle x}$.

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 Thesaurus:productive

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• productively
• productiveness
• productivity

Translations

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “productive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “productive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Adjective

productive

1. feminine singular of productif

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /proː.dukˈtiː.u̯e/, [proːd̪ʊkˈt̪iːu̯ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pro.dukˈti.ve/, [prod̪ukˈt̪iːve]

Adjective

prōductīve

1. vocative masculine singular of prōductīvus