productivity
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the rate at which a person or company does useful work.
the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.
Simple“The new software helped the team increase their productivity by finishing tasks faster.”
In context“Economists are concerned that stagnant productivity growth across the manufacturing sector could lead to long-term wage suppression.”
UsageUsually uncountable; often used with verbs like 'increase', 'boost', or 'improve'.
SynonymsAntonymsidlenessinefficiency - 02 C1 Advanced
the amount of crops grown on a specific area of land.
the yield or output of crops per unit of land area, often used to assess soil quality or farming techniques.
Simple“Using better fertilizer can improve the productivity of the soil.”
In context“The study examined how climate change affects the agricultural productivity of sub-Saharan regions over a ten-year period.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
how easily a language rule can be used to make new words.
the capacity of a grammatical pattern or affix to be used by speakers to create new linguistic forms.
Simple“The suffix '-ness' has high productivity because we can add it to many adjectives to make nouns.”
In context“Morphological productivity varies significantly between different affixes, with some remaining active while others become entirely fossilized.”
Teacher's tipThis is a highly specialized term in linguistics; in general conversation, use 'flexibility' or 'creativity' instead.
Synonymsgenerativity
Usage agricultural productivity · improve productivity · increase productivity
From productive + -ity.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.