noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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CMU ARPABET:F ER2 T AH0 L IH0 Z EY1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act or process of rendering fertile.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The act of fecundating or impregnating the gametes of animals, plants, etc.; including the process by which in flowers the pollen renders the ovule fertile, an analogous process in flowerless plants, or the joining of sperm and egg in animals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The act of applying fertilizer to soil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
making fertile as by applying fertilizer or manure
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fertilisation, fecundation, dressing
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: enrichment
Narrower terms: top dressing
5
noun
Meaning 5
creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.