fructification
Americannoun
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act of fructifying; the fruiting of a plant, fungus, etc.
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the fruit itself.
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the organs of fruiting; fruiting body.
noun
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the act or state of fructifying
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the fruit of a seed-bearing plant
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any spore-bearing structure in ferns, mosses, fungi, etc
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The producing of fruit by an angiosperm.
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A seed-bearing or spore-bearing structure.
Etymology
Origin of fructification
1605–15; < Late Latin frūctificātion- (stem of frūctificātiō ) a bearing of fruit, equivalent to Latin frūctificāt ( us ) (past participle of frūctificāre; see fructify) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Fructification is the process of growing fruit. During fructification, a pear tree will first grow fragrant blossoms before they develop into delicious pears. When a plant undergoes fructification, you can also say it fructifies, or develops so that it can produce fruit. Both words stem from the Latin fructificare, "bear fruit," and its root fructus, which means both "fruit" and "profit or enjoyment." You can use fructification in this figurative way too, to mean "make productive." You might say, "The fructification of my lemonade stand means I can pay you back for all that sugar I borrowed!"
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.
Browne's contemporary, Dean Wren, seems sadly to have misunderstood the fructification of the Oak.
From Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk More Especially on the Birds and Fishes by Browne, Thomas, Sir
The first group, Ectocarpeæ, is composed of thread-like jointed plants, the fructification of which consists of external spores, sometimes formed by the swelling of a branchlet.
From Sea-Weeds, Shells and Fossils by Gray, Peter
This preservation of parts of fructification, and the pollen of coniferae, displays the art with which nature embalms her relics.
From The Bible: what it is by Bradlaugh, Charles
Cryptogamia, krip-to-gā′mi-a, n. the class of flowerless plants, or those which have their fructification concealed.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
At the apex of the stem appears the fructification, as it is called for lack of a better term, in the form of a short spike or head.
From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
