ovulate
To produce eggs or ova.
Adjective
- Containing, or bearing, an ovule.
- Ovulate flowers are usually isolated by enclosing them individually or in clusters in pollenproof bags […] - 1948, W. C. Cumming, Francis Irving Righter, Methods Used to Control Pollination of Pines in the Sierra Nevada...
Origin
Etymology tree English ovul(e) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English ovulate From ovul(e) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Derived
Verb
- To produce eggs or ova.
- Other studies have shown that women living near the equator have a marked tendency to ovulate during the full moon. - 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the...
Origin
From ovul(e) + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French ovuler.
Forms
Derived
nonovulating ovulation ovulator ovulatory superovulate unovulated