Stĕr′ile, a.

a. [Fr. stérile, It. sterile, Sp. estéril, Lat. sterilis, allied to Gr. στερεός, στεῖρος, stiff, barren.]

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

She is grown sterile, . . . and her births of animals are now very inconsiderable. More.

3. Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a sterile production or author.
4. (Bot.) Bearing only stamens; as, a sterile flower or plant.