self-fertilization
Americannoun
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Botany. fertilization of an ovum of a plant by a male gamete from the same flower (opposed to cross-fertilization).
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Zoology. fertilization of the ovum of a hermaphroditic animal by a sperm from the same individual, as in some species of tapeworm.
noun
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Fertilization that occurs when male and female gametes produced by the same organism unite. Self-fertilization occurs in many protozoans and invertebrate animals. It results from self-pollination in plants. Self-fertilization allows an isolated individual organism to reproduce but restricts the genetic diversity of a community.
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Compare cross-fertilization
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-fertilization
First recorded in 1855–60
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.
Among a handful of species exist hermaphrodites capable of self-fertilization.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2024
The researchers tried to collect additional mushrooms in New Jersey and New York, where the fungus is spreading less quickly, but they didn’t find evidence of self-fertilization.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 2, 2023
Before the plants have matured, you remove the pollen-producing organs from the tall/inflated plants in your crosses to prevent self-fertilization.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Many species have specific mechanisms in place to prevent self-fertilization, because it is an extreme form of inbreeding and usually produces less fit offspring.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013
The controls which were not emasculated and not hand pollinated, show that the trees are practically completely self sterile; only an occasional nut is set from self-fertilization.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 44th Annual Meeting Rochester, N.Y. August 31 and September 1, 1953 by Northern Nut Growers Association
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.
