fecundate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make prolific or fruitful.
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Biology. to impregnate or fertilize.
verb
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to make fruitful
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to fertilize; impregnate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fecundate
1625–35; < Latin fēcundātus made fruitful, fertilized (past participle of fēcundāre ). See fecund, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Whilst the bird is probing the flower, the pollen of the stamens is rubbed in to the lower part of its head, and thus carried from one flower to fecundate another.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Belt, Thomas
And then, if the religious sentiment is weakened, are there not other sentiments that can make the heart of man beat, and fecundate genius?
From Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good by Cousin, Victor
His mind had one notable quality in common with Emerson's—the capacity to fecundate every other mind with which it came into close contact.
From Recollections of a Varied Life by Eggleston, George Cary
V. make productive &c. adj.; fructify; procreate, generate, fertilize, spermative†, impregnate; fecundate, fecundify†; teem, multiply; produce &c.
From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark
May, the month dear to poets, is frequently but an uninterrupted succession of showers to fecundate the earth; its symbol, an array of outspread umbrellas in our streets.
From Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present by Le Moine, J. M. (James MacPherson), Sir
The ancient Germans worshiped a virgin goddess under the the name of Hertha, or Ostara, who was fecundated by the active spirit, i. e., the "Holy Spirit."
The first requisite is suitable water for hatching eggs that have been artificially fecundated, and for the occupancy of fish of different ages, and for different species of fish.
From Soil Culture by Walden, J. H.
The manner in which the egg when fecundated, either in the mother's body or after being laid, continues its development, varies enormously in different species.
From The Sexual Question A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study by Forel, Auguste
The petals of many flowers expand in the sun, but contract all night, or on the approach of rain; after the seeds are fecundated the petals no longer contract.
From Endless Amusement A Collection of Nearly 400 Entertaining Experiments by Unknown
How is the extremely complex human body with its various physical characteristics built up from the nucleus of a fecundated cell, the ovum?
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by ?Malley, Austin
The pistil is much longer than the stamens, hence the flower-stalks have their elegant bend, that the stigma may hang downwards to receive the fecundating dust of the anthers.
From The Botanic Garden. Part II. Containing the Loves of the Plants. a Poem. With Philosophical Notes. by Darwin, Erasmus
Myriads of these eggs are accumulated in ponds and rivers; yet in this mass the fecundating principle solely selects and impregnates those that naturally claim its vivifying powers.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)
That these historic Resolutions contained the fecundating germs of the Civil War, is by the way.
From The Conqueror by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
They usually consist of a filament and an anther, the anther being the essential part in which the pollen, or fecundating dust, is formed.
From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles
We look upon him as one of the few men of genius whom our age has produced, and there needs no better proof of it than his masculine faculty of fecundating other minds.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 40, February, 1861 by Various
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.