fecundate
verbEtymology From Latin fecundātus, perfect passive participle of fecundō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, fecund + -ate. Compare French féconder.
1
To make fertile.
2
To inseminate.
- The pollen of plants is the fecundating power, and consists of a number of small sacs, invisible to the naked eye, in which a fluid exists, which is analogous to the spermatic fluid in man and animals.1837, Michael Ryan, The Philosophy of Marriage, in Its Social, Moral, and Physical Relations; with an Account of the Diseases of the Genito-urinary Organs which Impair or Destroy the Reproductive Function; and Induce a Variety of Complaints; with the Physiology of Generation in the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms …, London: John Churchill, Princes' Street, Soho, →OCLC, page 210:
- Derived terms
- unfecundated