pollinate

P3O1L1L1I1N1A1T1E1
/ˈpɒlɪneɪt/

verb

To apply pollen to (a stigma).

“self-pollinate”

Similar
pollenatecross-pollinate
OriginLatin pollen, pollinis →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

verbpollinate (third-person singular simple present pollinates, present participle pollinating, simple past and past participle pollinated)

present singular third person pollinates · participle present pollinating · participle past pollinated · past pollinated

  1. To apply pollen to (a stigma).

    self-pollinate

    4 more examples

    pollinate plants

    pollinate flowers

    Bees help pollinate flowers as they collect nectar.

    Farmers often import bees to pollinate their crops.

adjective
  1. biologyPollinose.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbfertilize by transferring pollen

Similar
pollenatecross-pollinate
Broader
inseminatefecundatefertilize
Also see
cross-pollinate

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinpollen, pollinis
  2. Englishpollinate

From pollin- (compound form of "pollen") + -ate (verb-forming suffix). From oblique stem of Latin pollen, pollinis.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic لَقَّحَ
  • لَقَّحَ (laqqaḥa)to apply pollen to
Bulgarian опрашвам
  • опрашвам (oprašvam)to apply pollen to
Catalan pol·linitzar
  • pol·linitzarto apply pollen to
Czech opylit
  • opylitto apply pollen to
Danish bestøve
  • bestøveto apply pollen to
Estonian tolmeldama
  • tolmeldamato apply pollen to
Finnish pölyttää
  • pölyttääto apply pollen to
French polliniser
  • polliniserto apply pollen to
German bestäuben
  • bestäubento apply pollen to
Greek επικονιάζω
  • επικονιάζω (epikoniázo)to apply pollen to
Hindi परागण
  • परागण (parāgaṇ)to apply pollen to
Hungarian beporoz
  • beporozto apply pollen to
Irish pailnigh
  • pailnighto apply pollen to
Italian impollinare
  • impollinareto apply pollen to
Māori haenga
  • haengato apply pollen to
Polish zapylać, zapylić
  • zapylaćto apply pollen to
  • zapylićto apply pollen to
Portuguese polinizar
  • polinizarto apply pollen to
Romanian poleniza
  • polenizato apply pollen to
Russian опыля́ть, опыли́ть
  • опыля́ть (opyljátʹ)to apply pollen to
  • опыли́ть (opylítʹ)to apply pollen to
Spanish polinizar
  • polinizarto apply pollen to
Swedish pollinera
  • pollinerato apply pollen to
Thai ผสมเกสร
  • ผสมเกสร (pà-sǒm-gee-sɔ̌ɔn)to apply pollen to
Ukrainian запи́лювати, запили́ти
  • запи́лювати (zapýljuvaty)to apply pollen to
  • запили́ти (zapylýty)to apply pollen to
Vietnamese thụ phấn
  • thụ phấnto apply pollen to

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Ponteilla
Cite this entry
APA

pollinate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pollinate

MLA

“pollinate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pollinate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pollinate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pollinate.

Source: pollinate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.