Hypertext Webster Gateway: "fertilization"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fertilization
n 1: creation by the union of sperm or pollen with an animal or
plant or egg cell [syn: {fertilisation}, {fecundation},
{impregnation}]
2: making fertile as by applying fertilizer or manure [syn: {fertilisation},
{fecundation}, {dressing}]
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