fecundation

plural fecundations

1. countableuncountableThe process whereby a new organism is produced by fertilization.

   In Neolithic agricultural societies, the sacrificed male and his remains were transferred to the fields needing fecundation, and there the Great Mother becomes the soil receiving the fertilizing blood.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 234

   1 more example

   The fact that in most lands the moon was originally a female deity has led many historians to dispute the superiority of the moon over the sun in ancient mythology. In putting forth this argument they overlook one important and significant factor: the existence of a matriarchate preceding the domination of woman by man. That such a condition was perfectly natural will be realized when it is remembered there was no recognition of the part played by the male in fecundation.

   1941, George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sex Rites in Relation to the Religions of All Races from Antiquity to the Present Day, London: T. Werner Laurie, page 15