inoculantn.
/ᵻˈnɒkjᵿlənt/, /ᵻˈnɒkjᵿln̩t/, U.S. /ᵻˈnɑkjələnt/ 1. A sample of infective material or agents used for experimental purposes, esp. in studies of the transmission or prevention of infectious diseases.
ΚΠ
1867 Veterinarian Oct. 805 The virus of glanders, when treated with carbolic acid, and employed as an inoculant, does not produce glanders.
1886 St. Louis Courier of Med. 16 451 Sterilized culture liquid used as an inoculant was found to protect pigeons against the living germs.
1924 Ann. Bot. 38 357 Subcultures on potato mush agar, using inoculant from the Baarn culture, were then made.
2006 D. Max Family that couldn't Sleep (2007) ii. vi. 87 He had prepared his inoculant by taking tissue from infected sheep's brains, mashing it up, and removing the infectivity with a chemical.
2. A preparation of beneficial microorganisms (originally nitrogen-fixing bacteria) used for the treatment of seeds and soil or for various other purposes in agriculture and food production.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > [noun] > use of other natural fertilizers > other natural fertilizers
marl1280
pomacec1450
cod's head1545
buck-ashes1563
bucking-ashes1577
guano1604
greaves1614
rape cake1634
muck1660
wool-nipping1669
willow-earth1683
green dressing1732
bone flour1758
bone powder1758
poudrette1764
bone dust1771
green manure1785
fish-manure1788
wassal1797
lime-rubbish1805
Bude sand1808
bone1813
cancerine1840
inch-bones1846
bonemeal1849
silver sand1851
fish guano1857
food1857
terramare1866
kainite1868
fish-flour1879
soil1879
fish-scrap1881
gas lime1882
bean cake1887
inoculant1916
1916 Soil Sci. 2 p. xviii (advt.) Compared with most commercial cultures, Alphano Inoculant provides the necessary legume bacteria at half the cost.
1935 Fortune Aug. 45/2 Tests made by the University of Illinois proved that the inoculant helped to prevent rot disease and promoted the growth of a good stand of clover.
1996 Farmers Weekly 22 Nov. (Forage Additives Suppl.) 18/3 An inoculant is a product containing lactic acid bacteria which produce lactic acid to aid silage fermentation.
2006 J. Fletcher Cheese & Wine 121 In a process unique to Roquefort, this inoculant is made from rye bread that has been seeded with a selected strain of spores.
3. Metallurgy. A substance added to molten metal or a molten alloy in order to produce a smaller grain size or otherwise improve the microstructure of the cast material. Cf. inoculate v. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials used in metallurgical processes > [noun] > other metallurgical materials
fixes1594
spalt1668
slacken1670
thickening1872
cementa1877
fake1877
salt bath1913
inoculant1931
1931 Foundry Trade Jrnl. 12 Nov. 300/2 The ladle addition is called an ‘inoculant’ and the iron is spoken of as ‘inoculated iron’.
1960 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 195 222/1 The use of graphitizing inoculants, usually based on silicides, is described.
2003 S. Kou Welding Metall. (ed. 2) vii. 188 This technique has been used extensively in metal casting. It involves the addition of nucleating agents or inoculants to the liquid metal to be solidified.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2022).
<
n.1867