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F — Ferreter to Fess (Part 4 of 6)

resource." E. Everett.

And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps
Corrupting in its own fertility.
Shak.
Thy very weeds are beautiful; thy waste
More rich than other climes' fertility.
Byron.

Fertilization
(Fer`ti*li*za"tion) n.

1. The act or process of rendering fertile.

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.

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.

Fertilize
(Fer"ti*lize) 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.

And fertilize the field that each pretends to gain.
Byron.

2. To fecundate; as, to fertilize flower. A. R. Wallace.

Fertilizer
(Fer"ti*lizer) n.

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

2. That which renders fertile; a general name for commercial manures, as guano, phosphate of lime, etc.

Ferula
(||Fer"u*la) n. [L. ferula giant fennel rod, whip, fr. ferire to strike; akin to OHG. berjan, Icel. berja. Cf. Ferule.]

1. A ferule. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

2. The imperial scepter in the Byzantine or Eastern Empire.

Ferulaceous
(Fer`u*la"ceous) a. [L. ferulaceus, fr. ferula rod: cf. F. férulacé.] Pertaining to reeds and canes; having a stalk like a reed; as, ferulaceous plants.

Ferular
(Fer"u*lar) n. A ferule. [Obs.] Milton.

Ferule
(Fer"ule) n. [L. ferula: cf. F. férule. See Ferula.] A flat piece of wood, used for striking, children, esp. on the hand, in punishment.

Ferule
(Fer"ule) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feruled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Feruling.] To punish with a ferule.

Ferulic
(Fe*ru"lic) a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, asafetida (Ferula asafœtida); as, ferulic acid. [Written also ferulaic.]

Fervence
(Fer"vence) n. Heat; fervency. [Obs.]