n. 1. The act or process of rendering fertile. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) The act of fecundating or impregnating animal or vegetable germs; esp., the process by which in flowers the pollen renders the ovule fertile, or an analogous process in flowerless plants; fecundation; impregnation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Close fertilization (Bot.), the fertilization of pistils by pollen derived from the stamens of the same blossom. --
Cross fertilization, fertilization by pollen from some other blossom. See under Cross, a. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fertilized p. pr. & vb. n. Fertilizing ] [ Cf. F. fertiliser. ] 1. To make fertile or enrich; to supply with nourishment for plants; to make fruitful or productive; as, to fertilize land, soil, ground, and meadows. [ 1913 Webster ]

And fertilize the field that each pretends to gain. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fecundate; as, to fertilize flower. A. R. Wallace. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. united with a male gamete to begin the development of an individual embryo; -- of female gametes.
Syn. -- impregnated, inseminated. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. made more suitable for growth of crops by addition of fertilizer{ 2 }; -- of soil.
Syn. -- enriched. [ PJC ]

n. 1. One who fertilizes; the agent that carries the fertilizing principle, as a moth to an orchid. A. R. Wallace. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which renders fertile; a general name for commercial substances which make plants grow better, as manure, guano, phosphate of lime, ammonium nitrate, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]