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

The near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent fertilizer prices sharply higher this year, raising concerns over a broader shock to the global food system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply moved through the strait before the war, as well as much of its aluminum, fertilizer and other raw materials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

So Hormuz blocks commodity exports, Yuntianhua buys fertilizer inputs at a premium, then Beijing reduces global supply by restricting phosphate exports — and fertilizer prices go up.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

The disputed Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for transporting fertilizer and other key commodities, in addition to oil.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Plots with charcoal alone grew little, but those treated with a combination of charcoal and fertilizer yielded as much as 880 percent more than plots with fertilizer alone.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Heavy metal pollution is common around industrial sites, mining regions, cities, and towns, but contaminants can also spread into rural landscapes through the air, sewage sludge, fertilizers, and other agricultural products.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 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

Brazil is one of the world’s largest producers of food, but it relies on imported fertilizers that have become more expensive due to the conflicts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

CF Industries is the most direct loser because it mainly produces nitrogen fertilizers like urea and ammonia, whose prices would be falling as the Middle East’s supply flow restores following the reopening of Hormuz.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

There was no free fuel for its aging factories, no guaranteed market for its often-shoddy goods, and no access to cheap, Soviet-made chemical fertilizers on which state farms had become dependent.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Related Words

• manure