fecundate
/ˈfɛk(ə)ndeɪt
/ /ˈfiːk(ə)ndeɪt/verb [with object]
1 archaic Fertilize: there were no insects to fecundate flowering plants...
- They used to fecundate their palm-trees in order to make them more fruitful.
1.1 literary Make fruitful: he actuates and fecundates our souls...
- By 1784 he was describing in plaintive terms how the English were constantly making new discoveries: ‘The whole of nature is unceasingly studied, requested, worked upon, fecundated, husbanded.’
- While McKinney's fecundating prose absolutely shimmers with style, his tendencies toward self-indulgence, exaggeration, and excess ultimately undo the volume's many promising strands of thought.
Derivatives
fecundation
/ /fiːk(ə)nˈdeɪʃ(ə)n / noun ...- This year the Italian Parliament passed a law obstructing stem cell research that was supposed to ‘protect’ women who are going through assisted fecundation.
- Scientist say that they need at least 20 white-flag dolphins to carry out artificial fecundation and ensure the quality of the offspring.
- The church ought to take existing traditional cultures more seriously, and work for their mutual fecundation.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin fecundat- 'made fruitful', from the verb fecundare, from fecundus 'fruitful'.