self-pollination

noun

Pollination of a flower by its own pollen, in a flower that has both stamens and a pistil.

Opposite
cross-pollination
OriginEnglish pollination ← Middle English self- ← Old English self- →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounself-pollination (countable and uncountable, plural self-pollinations)

plural self-pollinations

  1. countableuncountablePollination of a flower by its own pollen, in a flower that has both stamens and a pistil.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounfertilization by transfer of pollen from the anthers to the stigma of the same flower

Opposite
cross-pollination
Broader
pollinationpollenation

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishpollination
  9. Englishself-pollination

From self- + pollination.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian самоопрашване
  • самоопрашване (samooprašvane)pollination of a flower by its own pollen
Catalan autopol·linització
  • autopol·linitzaciópollination of a flower by its own pollen
Finnish itsepölytys
  • itsepölytyspollination of a flower by its own pollen
French auto-pollinisation
  • auto-pollinisationpollination of a flower by its own pollen
German Selbstbestäubung
  • Selbstbestäubungpollination of a flower by its own pollen
Hindi स्वपरागण
  • स्वपरागण (svaprāgaṇ)pollination of a flower by its own pollen
Italian autoimpollinazione
  • autoimpollinazionepollination of a flower by its own pollen
Japanese 自家受粉
  • 自家受粉 (jikajubun)pollination of a flower by its own pollen
Māori haenga tūwā
  • haenga tūwāpollination of a flower by its own pollen
Portuguese autopolinização
  • autopolinizaçãopollination of a flower by its own pollen
Romanian autopolenizare, autofertilitate
  • autopolenizarepollination of a flower by its own pollen
  • autofertilitatepollination of a flower by its own pollen
Russian самоопыле́ние
  • самоопыле́ние (samoopylénije)pollination of a flower by its own pollen
Tagalog sarisapunlatil
  • sarisapunlatilpollination of a flower by its own pollen
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: self-pollination on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.