| Library / English Dictionary |
BARRENNESS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The quality of yielding nothing of value
Synonyms:
aridity; barrenness; fruitlessness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("barrenness" is a kind of...):
quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "barrenness"):
poorness (less than adequate)
unproductiveness (the quality of lacking the power to produce)
Derivation:
barren (providing no shelter or sustenance)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The state (usually of a woman) of having no children or being unable to have children
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("barrenness" is a kind of...):
infertility; sterility (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)
Derivation:
barren (not bearing offspring)
