Definition of "fertilization"

fertilization

noun
countable and uncountable, plural fertilizations
1. The act or process of rendering fertile.
2. The act of fecundating or impregnating the gametes of animals, plants, etc.; including the process by which in flowers the pollen renders the ovule fertile, an analogous process in flowerless plants, or the joining of sperm and egg in animals.
  Quotations
  In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
  2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
3. The act of applying fertilizer to soil.