[syn: inseminate, fecundate, fertilize, fertilise]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Fertilize \Fer"ti*lize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fertilized; p.
pr. & vb. n. Fertilizing.] [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.
[1913 Webster]
And fertilize the field that each pretends to gain.
--Byron.
[1913 Webster]
2. To fecundate; as, to fertilize flower. --A. R. Wallace.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
fertilize
v 1: provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to; "We should
fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants" [syn:
fertilize, fertilise, feed]
2: make fertile or productive; "The course fertilized her
imagination" [syn: fertilize, fecundate, fertilise]
3: introduce semen into (a female) [syn: inseminate,
fecundate, fertilize, fertilise]