STERILITY

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

The state of being unable to produce offspring; in a woman it is an inability to conceive; in a man it is an inability to impregnate

Synonyms:

infertility; sterility

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sterility" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sterility"):

impotence; impotency (an inability (usually of the male animal) to copulate)

barrenness (the state (usually of a woman) of having no children or being unable to have children)

cacogenesis (inability to produce hybrids that are both viable and fertile)

dysgenesis (infertility between hybrids)

Derivation:

sterile (incapable of reproducing)

Meaning:

(of non-living objects) the state of being free of pathogenic organisms

Synonyms:

antisepsis; asepsis; sterileness; sterility

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sterility" is a kind of...):

sanitariness (the state of being conducive to health)

Derivation:

sterile (free of or using methods to keep free of pathological microorganisms)