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IMPREGNATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant
Synonyms:
fecundation; fertilisation; fertilization; impregnation
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("impregnation" is a kind of...):
conception; creation (the event that occurred at the beginning of something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impregnation"):
pollenation; pollination (transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of a plant)
cross-fertilisation; cross-fertilization (fertilization by the union of male and female gametes from different individual of the same species)
self-fertilisation; self-fertilization (fertilization by the union of male and female gametes from the same individual)
superfecundation (fertilization of two or more ova released during the same menstrual cycle by sperm from separate acts of coitus (especially by different males))
superfetation (fertilization of a second ovum after a pregnancy has begun; results in two fetuses of different ages in the uterus at the same time)
Derivation:
impregnate (make pregnant)
impregnate (fertilize and cause to grow)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The process of totally saturating something with a substance
Example:
the saturation of cotton with ether
Synonyms:
impregnation; saturation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("impregnation" is a kind of...):
permeation; pervasion; suffusion (the process of permeating or infusing something with a substance)
Holonyms ("impregnation" is a part of...):
plastination (a process involving fixation and dehydration and forced impregnation and hardening of biological tissues; water and lipids are replaced by curable polymers (silicone or epoxy or polyester) that are subsequently hardened)
Derivation:
impregnate (infuse or fill completely)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Material with which something is impregnated
Example:
the impregnation, whatever it was, had turned the rock blue
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("impregnation" is a kind of...):
material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)
