fertilizer

American  

[fur-tl-ahy-zer] / ˈfɜr tlˌaɪ zər /

noun

• fertilizers
  plural

1. any substance used to fertilize the soil, especially a commercial or chemical manure.

2. a person, insect, etc., that fertilizes an animal or plant.

   Bees are fertilizers of flowers.

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fertilizer British  

/ ˈfɜːtɪˌlaɪzə /

noun

1. any substance, such as manure or a mixture of nitrates, added to soil or water to increase its productivity

2. an object or organism such as an insect that fertilizes an animal or plant

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fertilizer Scientific  

/ fûr′tl-ī′zər /

1. Any of a large number of natural and synthetic materials, including manure and compounds containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, spread on or worked into soil to increase its capacity to support plant growth. Synthetic fertilizers can greatly increase the productivity of soil but have high energy costs, since fossil fuels are required as a source of hydrogen, which is necessary to fix nitrogen in ammonia.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fertilizers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fertilizer

First recorded in 1655–65; fertilize + -er ¹

Explanation

Material you add to a garden to increase the nutrients in the soil and help plants grow is called fertilizer. If your rosebushes are looking a little sad, you might want to try using fertilizer. To fertilize is to make something fertile, or to encourage it to grow or reproduce. These words, along with fertilizer, come from the Latin fertilis, "bearing in abundance, fruitful, or productive." The most common kind of organic fertilizer is animal manure or peat, and other fertilizers are made of specific nutrients like nitrogen or potassium. Fertilizers are usually solid, though they come in liquid form as well.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fertilizer fertilizers

Walk around your property with a view to securing items such as fertilizer bags and open paint cans so that they don’t wash into storm drains, which flow to the ocean without treatment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Excess fertilizer use can also contribute to eutrophication and other environmental damage.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Icebreakers, in his vision, would clear an Arctic path for Canadian fertilizer to sail east, over the Northwest Passage that lured centuries of explorers into the Polar sea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

He conducts tours of the White House helipad while promoting a fertilizer brand on national television.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

I concentrated on the rows, and watched the spreader and the gray fertilizer sifting down from the hopper onto the soil.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Such an advance could reduce agriculture's reliance on industrial fertilizers.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

In agriculture, fertilizers can be enclosed inside PHA beads that gradually release their contents as the plastic breaks down.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

This is especially true for their company, which employs about 130,000 people across more than 50 countries and has interests in paper products, petroleum, pipelines, chemicals, fertilizers, electronic components, logistics and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

They were looking for a steady source of raw milk at a time when consumers were waking up to the risks of food contaminated by additives, fertilizers and pesticides.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

Bernard had entered the room and was advancing between the rows of fertilizers toward them.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Related Words

• manure