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
Although self-fertilization forms seeds by meiosis, all of the resulting plants will be identical.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Many species of plants, including the sunflower pictured here, are capable of self-fertilization.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Hildebrand proved by patient experiments that some flowers of this genus have not only lost the power of self-fertilization, but that they produce fertile seed only when pollen from another plant is carried to them.
From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Blanchan, Neltje
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.
