SG Heritage Dictionary

Sterile [\N] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. STERIL, STERILE adjective [Latin]

2. Barren; unfruitful; not fertile; producing little or no crop; as STERILE land; a STERILE desert; a STERILE year.

3. Barren; producing no young.

4. Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment, as a STERILE production or author.

5. Sterile flower, in botany, is a term given by Tournefort to the male flower, or that which bears only stamens.

Sterile [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. Producing little or no crop; barren; unfruitful; unproductive; not fertile; as, sterile land; a sterile desert; a sterile year.

2. Incapable of reproduction; unfitted for reproduction of offspring; not able to germinate or bear fruit; unfruitful; as, a sterile flower, which bears only stamens.

3. Free from reproductive spores or germs; as, a sterile fluid.

4. Fig.: Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a sterile production or author.