fertilize
English
Alternative forms
- fertilise (mostly British)
Etymology
From French fertiliser; equivalent to fertile + -ize.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɜː(ɹ)tɪlaɪz/
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
fertilize (third-person singular simple present fertilizes, present participle fertilizing, simple past and past participle fertilized)
- To make (the soil) more fertile by adding nutrients to it.
- (figuratively) To make more creative or intellectually productive.
- to fertilize one's imagination
- 2014 August 8, Rupert Christiansen, “The truth about falsettos [print version: 12 August 2014, p. R8]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
- He [countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo] also enjoys being the catalyst whereby opera fertilises other art forms: recently, he's collaborated with Japanese kabuki actors, and a project with dancers from New York City Ballet is in the offing.
- To cause to produce offspring through insemination; to inseminate.
Derived terms
- cross-fertilize
- fertilizer
Translations
to make fertile by adding nutrients
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to make creative or productive
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to cause to become pregnant — see impregnate
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Portuguese
Verb
fertilize
- inflection of fertilizar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative