Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Fertilizer |
FertilizerNoun1. Any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "fertilizer" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1880. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Agriculture | Any organic or inorganic material, either natural or synthetic, used to supply elements (such as nitrogen (N), phosphate (P2O5), and potash (K2O)) essential for plant growth. If used in excess or attached to eroding soil, fertilizers can become a source of water pollution. (references) |
Food & Agriculture | Mineral or organic matter added to the soil to enrich it in plant nutrients. Source: European Union. (references) |
| Any substance containing a nitrogen compound or nitrogen compounds utilized on land to enhance growth of vegetation; it may include livestock manure, the residues from fish farms and sewage sludge. Source: European Union. (references) | |
| Any fertilizer which is manufactured by an industrial process. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Weather | Substance that adds inorganic or organic plant nutrients to soil and improves its ability to grow crops, trees, or other vegetation. See organic fertilizer, fertilization. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions, the three major plant nutrients (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus), the secondary plant nutrients (calcium, sulfur, magnesium), and sometimes trace elements (or micronutrients) with a role in plant nutrition: boron, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and molybdenum.
Manure was once the dominant fertilizer, and is still used, but it's role is greatly diminished. Fertilizer can be created either from natural organic material such as manure or compost (see also organic gardening), or artificially as through the Haber-Bosch process which produces ammonia. The Haber-Bosch process uses about one percent of the Earth's total energy supply in order to provide half of the nitrogen needed in agriculture. Without this synthetic fertilizer, enough food could not be grown to support the current level of humanity on the planet. Organic material has the advantage of adding carbon compounds to the soil. A major source of soil fertility is the decomposing crop residue from prior years, though this is not considered "fertilizer."
Over-use of fertilizer can lead to algal blooms in lakes and streams that receive run-off from crop lands, and lead to long-term degradation of the soil; see in this regard eutrophication and nutrients. For these reasons, it is recommended that knowledge of the nutrient requirements of the soil vis-a-vis the crop precede applications of commercial fertilizer. In short, excess nutrient elements can cause local soil and off-site damage, as well as waste money.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Fertilizer."
Synonym: FertilizerSynonym: plant food (n). (additional references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | You and Willie! You're going to be fertilizer. They're gonna bury you right next to Jimmy Hoffa (Ghost; writing credit: Bruce Joel Rubin) A fertilizer plant (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory; writing credit: Richard Hatem) Guangzhou is a chemical weapons plant masquerading as a fertilizer plant (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory; writing credit: Richard Hatem) Farmers talk of nothing but fertilizer and women (The Magnificent Seven; writing credit: William Roberts; Walter Newman) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Menhaden fishing - menhaden in the hold of the mother vessel. These fish are used for fertilizer and pet food. Credit: Fisheries. |  | Contractor drilling holes in sand flat, dropping in fertilizer pellet and then planting. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | A total of 10,00 turkeys are raised in each building in Benton, Arkansas. Manure and wood chips used for bedding are then composted and used for fertilizer on adjacent pastures. Credit: Jeff Vanuga. |  | Compost containing turkey manure and wood chips from bedding material is dried and then applied to pastures for fertilizer. Benton, Arkansas. Credit: Jeff Vanuga. |
 | Soil samples are taken on pastureland in Union County to determine fertilizer needs. Credit: Lynn Betts. |  | Fertilizer application applied directly into irrigation lateral for flood application. Yuma, Az. Credit: Jeff Vanuga. |
 | Using Global Position System equipment on farm for precision application of fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides. Northern Louisiana. Credit: Bob Nichols. |  | Alaska landowner and District Conservationist Phil Naegele discuss management of a sustainable agriculture lingenberry field. Landowners uses waste from a local fish cannery as fertilizer. Also uses drip irrigation.[Slide 97CS3171]. Credit: Ron Nichols. |
 | Rashad Brooks loads fertilizer into hopper on farm of his uncles, James and Louis Sanders, near Mound Bayou, MS. Credit: USDA. |  | Fifty-five percent of dried kenaf stalks will be used to make paper. Waste products from the process can be made into fertilizer and feed binder. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Keith Weller.. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Pliny The Elder | The master's eye is the best fertilizer. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil or from manure used as fertilizer. (references) | |
They usually are transmitted by hand to mouth, although the use of human feces as fertilizer may also permit transmission of infective eggs by food that is grown in the soil and eaten without being thoroughly washed. (references) | ||
Business | Japan uses 760 kilograms fertilizer per 5,443 kilograms of output. (references) | |
The fertilizer sector also offers good prospects over the next few years. (references) | ||
Profertil's fertilizer plant will reduce demand for imported fertilizers. (references) | ||
Economic History | Afghanistan | Relatively little use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides. (references) |
Pakistan | Fertilizer - Pakistan has 10 fertilizer units, of which four are in the private sector. (references) | |
China | China's accession to the WTO will provide dramatic benefits to U.S. fertilizer exporters. (references) | |
Political Economy | KUWAIT | Kuwait does not directly subsidize any of its exports, which consist almost exclusively of crude oil, petroleum products, and fertilizer. (references) |
NORWAY | On the mainland, energy-intensive industries such as metal processing and fertilizer production will remain prominent thanks to abundant hydropower resources. (references) | |
OMAN | The Indian government in June 2000 finally approved the proposed Sur fertilizer plant, a joint venture between the Omani Government and Indian State investors. (references) | |
Political Rights | Ethiopia | For example, there were credible reports that ruling party personnel withheld fertilizer and food aid in the SNNPRS region as retaliation for voters electing opposition candidates. (references) |
Trade | Zambia | Export Controls: Export licenses are required for: fertilizer, firearms, live animals, historical artifacts and wildlife trophies. (references) |
Vietnam | Management of rice export and fertilizer import in 2001 is subject to Decision No. 46/2001/QD-Ttg and circular No. 11/2001/TT-BTM. (references) | |
Travel | Nicaragua | Puerto Sandino, also located on the Pacific Coast, is primarily used for the import of crude petroleum and bulk cargo, such as fertilizer, clinker and steel. (references) |
Worker Rights | Philippines | In June eight minors, some as young as 14 years old, were found working as fertilizer baggers at a port area in La Union province. (references) |
India | Oswal Fertilizer Ltd.'s (OFL) Diamonium Phosphate fertilizer plant at Paradip, Orissa, began operations in May 2000. Eleven workers died during the plant's construction; an additional 6 persons were killed and 51 others were injured in a series of accidents at the plant between May and September 2000. None of the workers were using safety equipment. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Fertilizer" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.45% of the time. "Fertilizer" is used about 181 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.45% | 180 | 23,046 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.55% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 181 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| Pakistan | Fauji Fertilizer Company |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "fertilizer": chemical fertilizer ♦ fertilizer consumption,100 grams per hectare of arable land ♦ fertilizer distributor ♦ fertilizer needs ♦ fertilizer requirement ♦ fertilizer requirements ♦ lawn fertilizer ♦ mineral fertilizer ♦ organic fertilizer ♦ potash fertilizer. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "fertilizer"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | polenizuës, pleh (carrion, crap, dressing, muck, ordure), ai që fekondon. (various references) | |
Arabic | سماد طبيعي أو كيميائي. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | тор (dressing, manure, ordure, soil), оплодотворител, оплодител. (various references) | |
Chinese | 肥料 (manure). (various references) | |
Czech | umìlé hnojivo. (various references) | |
Danish | gødning (manure). (various references) | |
Dutch | mest (manure). (various references) | |
Esperanto | sterko (manure). (various references) | |
Faeroese | tøð (manure). (various references) | |
Finnish | lannoite (artificial manure, chemical fertilizer, dressing, dung, fertiliser, manure, muck). (various references) | |
French | engrais (fertiliser), fumier, engrais chimique (chemical fertilizer). (various references) | |
Frisian | dong (manure). (various references) | |
German | Kunstdünger (artificial fertilizer), dünger (dung, manure, manures). (various references) | |
Greek | λίπασμα (fertiliser, manure). (various references) | |
Hebrew | זבל כימי, "שן (abundance, creamy, fatness, fertile, manure, oil, plump). (various references) | |
Hungarian | trágya (chip, dung, excrement, manure, muck, ordure). (various references) | |
Indonesian | pupuk (compost, manure). (various references) | |
Italian | fertilizzante (fertiliser, fertilizing). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 肥料 (manure), 肥料 (manure). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ひりょう (manure). (various references) | |
Korean | 비료. (various references) | |
Manx | lhiasaghey (amendment, appendix, appendix book, atone, atonement, compensate, compensation, correct, correct as text, correction, cultivate, cultivation, culture, cure, curing, develop, developing, dress, dressing, dung, dunging, enrich, expiate, expiation, fertilize, furtherance, husband, husband as land, improvement, imputation, manure, manuring, propitiate, propitiation, reclaim, reclamation, recompense, repair, replenish, replenishment, restitution, revise, revision, rub up, season), eoylley (excrement, faeces, manure). (various references) | |
Norwegian | kunstgjødsel. (various references) | |
Papiamen | mèst (manure). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ertilizerfay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | fertilizante, adubo (compost). (various references) | |
Romanian | îngrãşãmânt (dressing, manure, soil). (various references) | |
Russian | удобрение (dung, enrichment, fertilization, manure, manuring, soil). (various references) | |
Sepedi | monontaha. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | đubrivo (guano), đubre (dung, garbage, junk, laystall, muck, offscourings, ordure, rubbish, sweepings, trash). (various references) | |
Spanish | fertilizante (artificial manure, chemical fertilizer, dressing, nutrient, plant food, plant food element), abono (compost, deposit, dressing, fertilization, guarantee, manure, manuring, payment, receipt, season ticket, subscription). (various references) | |
Sranan | doti (dirty, earth, filthy, land, manure, nasty, soil, soiled, unclean). (various references) | |
Swazi | manyólo. (various references) | |
Swedish | gödningsämne. (various references) | |
Turkish | suni gübre (artificial manure, chemical manure, kainite), gübre (cowpat, dressing, droppings, dung, manure, muck, ordure, plant-food, soil). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | обпилювач, запліднювач, добриво (manure). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | lum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "fertilizer": fertilizers. (additional references) | |
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"Fertilizer" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Fergislie, feritilizer, fertiliser, fertilisier, fertilube, fertlize, fertlizer, fetilize, fetilizer, firtilize, furtilize. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "fertilizer" (pronounced fer"tulī'zer) |
| 5 | -u l ī' z er | analyzer, equalizer, stabilizer, sterilizer, tranquilizer. |
| 3 | -ī' z er | energizer, advertiser, appetizer, atomizer, colonizer, compromiser, exerciser, franchiser, ionizer, itemizer, merchandiser, moisturizer, organizer, oxidizer, plasticizer, polarizer, popularizer, supervisor, sympathizer, synthesizer, womanizer. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-f-i-i-l-r-r-t-z" | |
-1 letter: fertilize. | |
-2 letters: filterer, flirtier, refilter. | |
-3 letters: ferrite, fertile, fierier, firelit, flirter, reifier, ritzier, trifler. | |
-4 letters: feirie, ferlie, ferrel, ferret, filter, frieze, frizer, lefter, liefer, lifter, refelt, refile, refire, reflet, relief, relier, retile, retire, rifler, telfer, trifle. | |
-5 letters: elite, filer, filet, firer, fleer, fleet, flier, flirt, flite, freer, frere, frier, fritz, lifer, liter, litre, refel, refer. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-f-i-i-l-r-r-t-z" | |
+1 letter: fertilizers. | |
+3 letters: overfertilize. | |
+4 letters: overfertilized, overfertilizes, reflectorizing. | |
+5 letters: overfertilizing, trifluoperazine. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Company Usage 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
