cross-fertilization

[kraws-fur-tl-uh-zey-shuh n, kros-] /ˈkrɔsˌfɜr tl əˈzeɪ ʃən, ˈkrɒs-/
noun
1.
Biology. the fertilization of an organism by the fusion of an egg from one individual with a sperm or male gamete from a different individual.
2.
Botany. fertilization of the flower of one plant by a gamete from the flower of a closely related plant (opposed to self-fertilization).
3.
(not in technical use) cross-pollination.
4.
interaction or interchange, as between two or more cultures, fields of activity or knowledge, or the like, that is mutually beneficial and productive:
a cross-fertilization of scientific and technical disciplines.
Origin
1875-80
Examples from the web for cross-fertilization
  • The great cross-fertilization of ideas, the ongoing, never-ending planetary conversation has begun.
  • These newsgroups tend to be self-contained worlds, with little cross-fertilization.
  • Here's the latest cross-fertilization of scientific disciplines reported in the news related to food science.
  • All in all, it's a cross-fertilization that was practically unheard of until a few years ago.
  • Differences between these processes defeat the notion of an automatic cross-fertilization of reading and writing activities.
  • Foster cross-fertilization between different approaches eg with animal and behavior genetics studies.
British Dictionary definitions for cross-fertilization

cross-fertilization

noun
1.
fertilization by the fusion of male and female gametes from different individuals of the same species Compare self-fertilization
Derived Forms
cross-fertile, adjective
cross-fertilization in Science
cross-fertilization  
The fertilization that occurs when the nucleus of a male sex cell from one individual joins with the nucleus of a female sex cell from another individual. In plants, cross-pollination is an example of cross-fertilization. Also called allogamy. Compare self-fertilization.

cross-fertilize verb
cross-fertilization in Culture

cross-fertilization definition


The fertilization of the ovum of one plant by the sperm of another plant.