Cross-fertilization

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Fertilization by the union of gametes of different plants (sometimes of different species). countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    interchange between different cultures or different ways of thinking that is mutually productive and beneficial wordnet
  3. 3
    The mutual exchange of ideas or concepts from different fields for mutual benefit. broadly, countable, uncountable

    "His fame led to some curious cultural cross-fertilizations. In Japan, the Yamamoto-clad singer stirred up a singular fanaticism—so much so that Japanese charter flights traveled all the way to Kinshasa, while in Tokyo, clone bands skilled at his kind of soukous multiplied."

  4. 4
    fertilization by the union of male and female gametes from different individual of the same species wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
conjugationcross-fertilisationimpregnationinsemination

Example

More examples

"His fame led to some curious cultural cross-fertilizations. In Japan, the Yamamoto-clad singer stirred up a singular fanaticism—so much so that Japanese charter flights traveled all the way to Kinshasa, while in Tokyo, clone bands skilled at his kind of soukous multiplied."

Etymology

From cross- + fertilization.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.