caprification

[ kap-ruh-fi-key-shuh n ]
/ ˌkæp rə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun Horticulture.

a method of artificial pollination of fig trees by wasps that prick the buds on branches of the caprifig that have been hung in trees of the edible fig.

Words nearby caprification

capricious, capricorn, capricornia, capricornian, capricornus, caprification, caprifig, caprifoliaceous, caprine, capriole, capriote

Example sentences from the Web for caprification

  • Thirty or forty years ago I read all that I could find about caprification, and was utterly puzzled.

    More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II |Charles Darwin

  • I cannot learn that caprification is now practised in Italy, but it is still in use in Greece.

    Man and Nature |George P. Marsh

  • The comparison of the fertilization of the date palm to the use of the wild fig refers to the practice of Caprification.

    The Legacy of Greece |Various

British Dictionary definitions for caprification

caprification
/ (ˌkæprɪfɪˈkeɪʃən) /

noun

a method of pollinating the edible fig by hanging branches of caprifig flowers in edible fig trees. Parasitic wasps in the caprifig flowers transfer pollen to the edible fig flowers

Word Origin for caprification

C17: from Latin caprifīcātiō, from caprifīcāre to pollinate figs by this method, from caprifīcus caprifig