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)

1. To make (the soil) more fertile by adding nutrients to it.
2. (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.

3. To cause to produce offspring through insemination; to inseminate.

Derived terms

• biofertilize
• cross-fertilize
• defertilize
• fertigation
• fertilizable
• fertilization
• fertilizer
• fertilizin
• misfertilize
• nonfertilized
• overfertilize
• postfertilized
• refertilize
• underfertilize
• unfertilized

Translations

to make fertile by adding nutrients

Albanian: mbars (sq) Azerbaijani: gübrələmək Bulgarian: торя (bg) (torja), наторявам (bg) (natorjavam) Catalan: fertilitzar (ca) Czech: hnojit Danish: gøde (da), gødske Dutch: bemesten (nl) Elfdalian: teða, dyndja, dritå Esperanto: fekundigi Finnish: lannoittaa (fi) French: fertiliser (fr) Galician: fertilizar (gl) Georgian: განოყიერება (ganoq̇iereba), გაპატივება (gaṗaṭiveba), ნაკელშეტანა (naḳelšeṭana), სასუქის შეტანა (sasukis šeṭana) German: düngen (de) Irish: leasaigh Italian: fertilizzare (it) Latin: fēcundō Occitan: fertilizar (oc) Polish: użyźniać (pl) impf, użyźnić (pl) pf, nawozić (pl) impf, nawieźć (pl) pf Portuguese: fertilizar (pt) Quechua: wanuy Romanian: fertiliza (ro) Russian: удобря́ть (ru) impf (udobrjátʹ), удо́брить (ru) pf (udóbritʹ) Scottish Gaelic: feamainn Spanish: fertilizar (es), abonar (es) Turkish: gübrelemek (tr) Ukrainian: удобрювати impf (udobrjuvaty) Vietnamese: bón (vi)

to make creative or productive

Czech: zúrodnit pf, zúrodňovat impf Finnish: ravita (fi) German: befruchten (de) Portuguese: fertilizar (pt) Ukrainian: живити impf (žyvyty)

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

Italian: (please verify) fertilizzare (it) Norman: (please verify) graîssi (Jersey)

Portuguese

Verb

fertilize

1. inflection of fertilizar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative