Unbearing

ppl. a. [UN-¹ 10. Cf. OHG. unberenti, -perendi, Goth. unbairands.] Unfertile, unproductive, barren.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, cxii. 9. Se eardian doeð unbeorende [L. sterilem] in huse modur bearna.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John xv. 2, marg. Þæt unberende treo he ʓenimes.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Deut. vii. 13. Ne bið mid eow nan þing unberendes ne on mannum ne on nytenum.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 125. Þe holi man … was of michel elde, & his woreldes make was … unberinde.

1685.  Dryden, Horace, Ep., ii. 21. [He] Does … with his pruneing hook disjoyn Unbearing Branches from their Head.

1863.  J. G. Murphy, Comm., Gen. xi. 6. Unwittingly provide a store for the unbearing period of the year.

1874.  C. R. Smith, Rural Life Shaks., 4. By root pruning, moving, and constantly cutting the boughs, fruit trees must be continually lacerated to decrease the growth of unbearing wood, and encourage the formation of fruit buds.