Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STER'IL, or STER'ILE, a. [L. sterilis; It. and Fr. sterile; Sp. esteril.]

1. Barren; unfruitful; not fertile; producing little or no crop; as, sterile land; a sterile desert; a sterile year. – Bacon.
2. Barren; producing no young. – More.
3. Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a sterile production or author. Sterile flower, in botany, is a term given by Tournefort the male flower, or that which bears only stamens. – Martyn.