- productive (adj.)
- 1610s, from French productif (16c.) and directly from Medieval Latin productivus "fit for production," from Latin product-, past participle stem of producere (see produce (v.)). Related: Productively; productiveness.
- productivity (n.)
- 1809, "quality of being productive," from productive + -ity. An earlier word for this was productiveness (1727). Economic sense of "rate of output per unit" is from 1899.
- unproductive (adj.)
- 1756, from un- (1) "not" + productive (adj.). Related: Unproductively; unproductiveness.