FERTILIZE

inseminate, fecundate, fertilize, fertilise

(verb) introduce semen into (a female)

fertilize, fertilise, feed

(verb) provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to; “We should fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants”

fertilize, fecundate, fertilise

(verb) make fertile or productive; “The course fertilized her imagination”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

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 cause to produce offspring through insemination; to inseminate.

Source: Wiktionary


Fer"ti*lize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fertilized; p. pr. & vb. n. Fertilizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. fertiliser.]

1. To make fertile or enrich; to supply with nourishment for plants; to make fruitful or productive; as, to fertilize land, soil, ground, and meadows. And fertilize the field that each pretends to gain. Byron.

2. To fecundate; as, to fertilize flower. A. R. Wallace.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 November 2024

ONCHOCERCIASIS

(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America


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Coffee Trivia

There are four varieties of commercially viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa, and Robusta. Growers predominantly plant the Arabica species. Although less popular, Robusta tastes slightly more bitter and contains more caffeine.

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