Fecundify

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To enhance the ability of soil or living organisms to produce offspring or yield vegetation effectively
2. To increase the fertility or productive capacity of soil or organisms
3. To cause soil or living beings to become more fruitful in growth or reproduction

Etymology: "Fecundify" is simply "fecund" with the verb-making suffix "-ify" attached. "Fecund" comes from Latin "fecundus," meaning fruitful or prolific, and the "-ify" ending comes from Latin "-ificare," which turns a base into a verb meaning "to make" or "to cause to become." Put together, the word means to make something fruitful, which is exactly what it does in agricultural and biological contexts, where it describes enriching soil or boosting the reproductive capacity of organisms. The pairing is a straightforward one: English already had "fecund" for fertile, and speakers needed a verb for the act of making something fecund, so they added the familiar suffix. Many English verbs were built this way, from "beautify" to "simplify," so the formation is unremarkable in itself. The base word is the more interesting part, since "fecund" carries the same Latin root as "fecundity," and both trace back to a sense of abundant, productive growth.

Synonyms: fertilize, impregnate, enrich, populate, procreate

Antonyms: sterilize, barren, deplete, infertile, unproductive