BioConcepts

fertilityfertilitas (lat.); Fertilität (ger.)

• Quantitative measure for the number of offspring. (HWB)
  category reproduction

  - 44 (BC)

  Democritus autem censet sapienter instituisse veteres ut hostiarum immolatarum inspicerentur exta; quorum ex habitu atque ex colore tum salubritatis, tum pestilentiae signa percipi, non numquam etiam quae sit vel sterilitas agrorum vel fertilitas futura.

  Cicero, De divinatione 1, 131.

  - 52/51 (BC)

  plerosque Belgos esse ortos a Germanis Rhenumque antiquitus traductos propter loci fertilitatem ibi consedisse Gallosque qui ea loca incolerent expulisse, solosque esse qui, patrum nostrorum memoria omni Gallia vexata, Teutonos Cimbrosque intra suos fines ingredi prohibuerint

  Caesar, De bello gallico 2, 4, 1.

  1866

  By fertility or productiveness I mean the amount of births as distinguished from the capability to bear. This quality of fertility or productiveness is interesting chiefly to the statistician or the political economist.

  Duncan, J.M. (1866). Fecundity, Fertility, Sterility and Allied Topics: 3; cf. Pearson, K. (1904). The bearing of our present knowledge of heredity upon conduct. quoted from: The diminishing birth rate. Brit. Med. J. Sept. 24, 1904, 767-768: 768.

  1982

  fertility The actual reproductive performance of an organism or population, measured as the actual number of viable offspring produced per unit time; birth rate; natality; cf. fecundity.

  Lincoln, R.J., Boxshall, G.A. & Clark, P.F. (1982). A Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics: 92.