Dictionary

productive en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/
• (Southern-England) audio
• /pɹəˈdʌk.təv/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *dewk- Proto-Indo-European *déwkti Proto-Italic *doukō Latin dūcō Latin prōdūcō Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin prōductīvusbor. English productive Borrowed from Late Latin productivus, equivalent to product + -ive.

Meanings

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.
4. (of an affix or word construction rule) Consistently applicable to any of an open set of words.
   • Moreover, this relationship is a productive one, in the sense that when new Adjectives are created (e.g. ginormous concocted out of gigantic and enormous), then the corresponding Adverb form (in this case ginormously) can also be used. And in those exceptional cases where Adverbs do not end in -ly, they generally have the same form as the corresponding Adjective, as with hard, fast, etc. 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 138:
   • In practice, a productive prefix yields many attested words (especially new coinages) without loss of meaning. For example, re- (“again”) is highly productive (rebuild, rethink), whereas other prefixes are relatively less so. 2026 April 14, Olha Matviyas, Victoria Rokoshevs’ka, Yulia Leshchyshyn, “THE MOST PRODUCTIVE PREFIXES IN ENGLISH MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY”, in The Future of Science, Technology and Economy, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2026, page 275:
5. Of a cough, producing mucus or sputum from the respiratory tract.
6. Of inflammation, producing new tissue.
7. A type of set of natural numbers, related to mathematical logic; a set S is productive if there exists a total recursive function f such that ∀x∈ℕ,~~W_x⊆S⇒f(x)∈A⧵W_x, where W_x is a recursive function whose Gödel number is x.
   • a productive set

Forms

Antonyms

destructive · nonproductive · sterile · baneful · non-productive · counterproductive · unproductive · barren · ruinous · fruitless · counter-productive

Deriveds

productivist · semiproductive · productive forces · productive efficiency · underproductive · productivize · improductive · preproductive · hyperproductive · overproductive · superproductive · hypoproductive · bioproductive · osteoproductive · productivism · contraproductive

Relateds

abundant · productively · productiveness · productivity

Synonyms

fruitful · pregnant · yieldly · luxuriant · batful · prolific · thriving · fertile · voluminous · yielding · productive

Translations (86)

ru продукти́вный (capable of producing something) · et produktiivne (capable of producing something) · et viljakas (capable of producing something) · da produktiv (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · ro rodnic (capable of producing something) · lv rezultatīvs (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · fi produktiivinen (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · ru конструкти́вный (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · la conficiens (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · pt produtivo (capable of producing something) · ja 生産的 (capable of producing something) · nn produktiv (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · pdt fruchtboa (capable of producing something) · hu termelékeny (capable of producing something) · ga torthúil (capable of producing something) · fi tuotannollinen (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · nb produktiv (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · es producente (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · nn produktiv (capable of producing something) · fi produktiivinen (in set theory) · eo produktiva (capable of producing something) · pdt fruchtboa (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · vi năng sản (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · de produktiv (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · lv produktīvs (capable of producing something) · nb produktiv (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · nb produktiv (capable of producing something) · bg производителен (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · es producente (capable of producing something) · ru продукти́вный (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · tl malalangin (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · de konstruktiv (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · cmn 生產的 /生产的 (capable of producing something) · ka კონსტრუქციული (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · ru производи́тельный (capable of producing something) · fi tuloksellinen (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · mi māpua (capable of producing something) · hu produktív (capable of producing something) · lv auglīgs (capable of producing something) · ml ഉത്പാദകമായ (capable of producing something) · ca productiu (capable of producing something) · nl productief (capable of producing something) · fi hedelmällinen (capable of producing something) · cmn 能產的 /能产的 (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · fr productif (capable of producing something) · pl produktywny (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · it produttivo (capable of producing something) · gl produtivo (capable of producing something) · fi tuottoisa (capable of producing something) · fi limaa irrottava (medicine: producing mucus or sputum) · lv produktīvs (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · nn produktiv (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · cs produktivní (capable of producing something) · es productivo (capable of producing something) · uk продукти́вний (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · ml ഉത്പാദകമായ (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · fi tuloksekas (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · grc γόνιμος (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · mi ngaruru (capable of producing something) · de produktiv (capable of producing something) · bg продуктивен (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · hu termékeny (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · ro fertil (capable of producing something) · fi limainen (medicine: producing mucus or sputum) · ro productiv (capable of producing something) · tr üretken (capable of producing something) · tr üretken (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · ca productiu (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · nb produktiv (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · ga bisiúil (capable of producing something) · nn produktiv (linguistics: consistently applicable to any of an open set of words) · lv ražīgs (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · fi produktiivinen (medicine: producing mucus or sputum) · et tootlik (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · fi tuottava (capable of producing something) · bg производителен (capable of producing something) · lv ražīgs (capable of producing something) · ja 建設的 (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · es productivo (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · ka პროდუქტიული (yielding good or useful results; constructive) · de produktiv (in set theory) · da produktiv (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · fi produktiivinen (medicine: producing new tissue) · lv ražīgs (of, or relating to the creation of goods or services) · tl malalangin (capable of producing something) · bg продуктивен (yielding good or useful results; constructive)