/ English Dictionary |
CROSS-FERTILIZATION
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Interchange between different cultures or different ways of thinking that is mutually productive and beneficial
Example:
the cross-fertilization of science and the creative arts
Synonyms:
cross-fertilisation; cross-fertilization
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("cross-fertilization" is a kind of...):
give-and-take; interchange; reciprocation (mutual interaction; the activity of reciprocating or exchanging (especially information))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Fertilization by the union of male and female gametes from different individual of the same species
Synonyms:
cross-fertilisation; cross-fertilization
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("cross-fertilization" is a kind of...):
fecundation; fertilisation; fertilization; impregnation (creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cross-fertilization"):
allogamy (cross-fertilization in plants)
Antonym:
self-fertilization (fertilization by the union of male and female gametes from the same individual)
Derivation:
cross-fertilize (cause to undergo cross-fertilization)
cross-fertilize (undergo cross-fertilization; become fertile)