fertiliser

IPA/fˈɜːtəlˌaɪzə/
IPA/fˈɜːɾəlˌaɪzɚ/

fertiliser — noun

1. a substance added to soil to provide the nutrients that plants need for strong g

1.nounB1
Definition

a substance added to soil to provide the nutrients that plants need for strong growth. Natural types include animal waste and rotted plant matter; chemical fertilisers are made in factories and contain ingredients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Example

Kofi spread fertiliser on his tomato plants to help them grow bigger fruit.

spread + fertiliser + on + [plants/crops]

Adina bought a bag of organic fertiliser for her rose garden at the weekend.

organic fertiliser — natural, no chemicals

Common collocations
  • apply fertiliser
  • spread fertiliser
  • use fertiliser
  • organic fertiliser
  • chemical fertiliser
  • liquid fertiliser
  • granular fertiliser
  • a bag of fertiliser
  • a dose of fertiliser
Synonyms
  • plant food

    less formal; often used on product labels for home-garden products

  • compost

    specifically natural, decayed organic matter; not factory-made

  • manure

    animal waste used as fertiliser; distinct in source and smell

Antonyms
  • pesticide

    kills pests rather than feeding plants

  • herbicide

    kills unwanted plants rather than helping them grow

Usage Note

Fertiliser is most often used as an uncountable noun (some fertiliser, a bag of fertiliser). When talking about specific types or brands, it can be countable (many fertilisers contain nitrogen).

Common Mistakes

I need to buy fertiliser for growing the vegetables in my kitchen.
I need to buy fertiliser for the vegetables in my garden.
Fertiliser is used for soil-grown plants, not kitchen-counter growing.
The plant needs more fertiliser water.
The plant needs more fertiliser mixed with water.
Fertiliser is a substance; it is mixed with water, not a type of water itself.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Fertiliser is the broadest term, covering any substance — natural or artificial — added to soil to help plants grow. Compost is always natural: rotted kitchen scraps, leaves, and garden waste that gardeners make themselves or buy in bags. Manure is animal waste (from cows, horses, chickens) and is a type of natural fertiliser with a strong smell. Plant food is an informal, consumer-friendly label for products sold in small bottles or packets for houseplants and garden flowers — it is technically a fertiliser but usually liquid and diluted with water. For example, a farmer spreads fertiliser across a wheat field, a keen gardener adds compost to her vegetable beds, and someone with a potted fern buys liquid plant food from a supermarket shelf.

fertiliser ↗compost ↗manure ↗plant food

Common collocations

Nouns

  • bag of fertiliser
  • type of fertiliser
  • amount of fertiliser
  • use of fertiliser

Prepositions

  • fertiliser for [crops/plants]
  • fertiliser on [soil/fields]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word fertiliser comes from the Latin fertilis, meaning 'able to bear fruit or produce abundantly'. This passed into Old French as fertil and into English as fertile. The verb fertilize appeared around the 1640s, and the noun fertiliser (describing the substance itself) emerged in the mid-1800s when the agricultural industry began manufacturing chemical plant foods on a large scale.