Adjacent Words

fertilization definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant [syn: fertilization, fertilisation, fecundation, impregnation]
2: making fertile as by applying fertilizer or manure [syn: fertilization, fertilisation, fecundation, dressing]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: circa 1787 an act or process of making fertile: as a. the application of fertilizer b. (1) an act or process of fecundation, insemination, or pollination — not used technically (2) the process of union of two gametes whereby the somatic chromosome number is restored and the development of a new individual is initiated

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (also -isation) 1 Biol. the fusion of male and female gametes during sexual reproduction to form a zygote. 2 a the act or an instance of fertilizing. b the process of being fertilized.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fertilization Fer`ti*li*za"tion, n. 1. The act or process of rendering fertile. 2. (Biol.) The act of fecundating or impregnating animal or vegetable germs; esp., the process by which in flowers the pollen renders the ovule fertile, or an analogous process in flowerless plants; fecundation; impregnation. Close fertilization (Bot.), the fertilization of pistils by pollen derived from the stamens of the same blossom. Cross fertilization, fertilization by pollen from some other blossom. See under Cross, a.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see fertilize