pollination

pollination — noun

1. the movement of pollen to the part of a flower where seeds or fruit can begin to

1.nounC1
Definition

the movement of pollen to the part of a flower where seeds or fruit can begin to form

Example

Bee pollination helps the apple trees behind our house make fruit.

compound: bee pollination

Poor pollination left half the strawberry flowers empty in May.

result: poor pollination reduces fruit

Common collocations
  • bee pollination
  • wind pollination
  • hand pollination
  • poor pollination
  • improve pollination
Synonyms
  • pollen transfer

    a plain descriptive phrase for the same process

  • cross-pollination

    narrower; it means pollen moves between different flowers or plants

  • fertilization

    related but later in the process; it is not just the pollen movement

Grammar Patterns

pollination of something

pollination by bees

hand pollination

Usage Note

Usually uncountable in everyday English. Often followed by of when naming the crop or plant, and common modifiers name the agent or method, such as bee, wind, or hand pollination.

Common Mistakes

Bees do pollination of the apple trees in spring.
Bees pollinate the apple trees in spring.
Use 'pollinate' as the verb; 'pollination' is the noun for the process.
The farm needs many pollinations in April.
The farm needs good pollination in April.
This sense is usually uncountable in normal use.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Pollination is the broad noun for pollen reaching the right part of a flower. Fertilization happens after pollination and names the stage where male and female cells join, so the two words are related but not interchangeable. Cross-pollination is narrower: the pollen comes from a different flower or plant, which often helps fruit set. Self-pollination is also narrower and means the pollen comes from the same flower or plant. Pollen transfer is a plain descriptive phrase, but it sounds less natural than pollination in biology, farming, and gardening. You can say poor pollination reduced the apple crop, but fertilization inside the flower still had to happen before seeds formed.

pollination ↗fertilizationcross-pollinationself-pollinationpollen transfer

Common collocations

Nouns

  • bee pollination
  • wind pollination
  • hand pollination
  • cross-pollination

Phrases

  • improve pollination
  • depend on pollination
  • poor pollination

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Pollination was formed in English from pollinate and the noun ending -ion. Pollinate comes from pollen, a word from Latin that meant fine flour or dust, which matches the dry powder carried from flower to flower.