fertilization
English
Alternative forms
- fertilisation
Etymology
From French fertilisation; equivalent to fertilize + -ation.
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
fertilization (countable and uncountable, plural fertilizations)
- The act or process of rendering fertile.
- The act of fecundating or impregnating animal or vegetable gametes; especially, the process by which in flowers the pollen renders the ovule fertile, or an analogous process in flowerless plants
- 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
- In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
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- The act of applying fertilizer to soil.
Synonyms
- conception
- fecundation
- syngamy
- impregnation
Derived terms
- cross-fertilization
- external fertilization
- internal fertilization
- in vitro fertilization
- self-fertilization
Translations
act of rendering fertile
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act of fecundating
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act of applying fertilizer
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