Productive means producing a great deal. A productive meeting, a productive writer, highly productive.
Of a person it means getting a lot done, and it has become one of the central words of modern working life, with a whole industry attached to it. Of land it means fertile. In economics, productivity is output per hour worked, and slow productivity growth is one of the largest problems in rich economies. Note counterproductive, which means having the opposite effect to the one intended and is a very useful word.
1adjectiveproductiveProducing a great deal.
“It was a productive afternoon: I answered all my emails and finished the report.”
productive is a quality of producing.
Also accepted in games: prolific
Latin productivus comes from producere, to lead forth — pro plus ducere. Produce, product and productive are the same verb, and being productive is leading a great deal forth.
Latin
prōductīvus
English, today
productive
Borrowed from Latin prōductīvus. Latin productivus, equivalent to product + -ive.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA