Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To make fecund or fruitful.
- transitive verb To impregnate; fertilize.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make fruitful or prolific; specifically, in biology, to render capable of development by the introduction of the male germ-element; impregnate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To make fruitful or prolific.
- transitive verb (Biol.) To render fruitful or prolific; to impregnate.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To make
fertile . - verb To
inseminate .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb introduce semen into (a female)
- verb make fertile or productive
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I've met catenate, hyaline, and fecundate, just not often.
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#509 ::: Fragano Ledgister ::: view all by ::: March 05, 2010, 09:03 AM: "Catenate" is is my vocabulary, as is "fecundate".
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We say, to fertilize (chiefly, however, when speaking of plants) or to fecundate an ovum, or to impregnate a female or woman, and to conceive a child.
Woman Her Sex and Love Life William J. Robinson
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It is imagined that the narrow aperture of the smaller cells, and the manner in which the form of this aperture compels the queen to bend forward, exercise a certain pressure upon the spermatheca, in consequence of which the spermatozoa spring forth and fecundate the egg as it passes.
The Life of the Bee Maurice Maeterlinck 1905
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If copulation occurs, however, zoosperms are brought into the cavity of the uterus, and, coming in contact with the ovum, fecundate it.
Plain Facts for Old and Young John Harvey Kellogg 1897
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The sun is the agent of the generative power of the sky, and his beams fecundate the earth, so that from her all life is produced.
The Freethinker's Text Book, Part II. Christianity: Its Evidences, Its Origin, Its Morality, Its History Annie Wood Besant 1890
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Every human being has a moment when his heart is easily touched, when the tears of grief will flow; and those tears may fecundate a generous thought which might lead to repentance.
My Double Life The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt 1884
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If copulation occurs, however, zoosperms are brought into the cavity of the uterus, and, coming in contact with the ovum, fecundate it.
Plain facts for old and young : embracing the natural history and hygiene of organic life. 1877
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The third variety of hermaphrodites embraces those animals in which the male organs are so disposed as not to fecundate the ova of the same body, but require the co-operation of two individuals, notwithstanding the co-existence in each of the organs of both sexes.
The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Ray Vaughn Pierce 1877
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In other classes, as _entozoa_, there appear to be special provisions whereby the sperm-cells and germ-cells may be united; _i. e._, the male organs are developed and so disposed as to fecundate the ova of the same individual.
The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Ray Vaughn Pierce 1877
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