Fructify

 WORD OF THE DAY

fructify / verb / FRUK-tuh-fye

Definition

1: to bear fruit

2: to make fruitful or productive

Examples

“After two seasons.... [Pamela] Adlon stepped up, hiring a writers’ room. And ‘Better Things’ kept going, fructifying into a closely observed and deeply felt portrait of one woman’s over-full life.” 

— Alexis Soloski, The New York Times, 26 Apr. 2022

Reliance has been in talks with Saudi Aramco for a stake sale in its refinery unit, although the transaction is yet to fructify.

— Matthew Martin, Bloomberg.com, 5 Nov. 2020

Did You Know?

Fructify comes from Latin fructus, meaning “fruit.” 

When the word was first used in English, it literally referred to the actions of fruit-bearing plants. Later it was used to refer to the action of making something literally or figuratively fruitful, such as soil or labor, respectively. 

These days fructify is more frequently used to refer to the giving forth of something in profit from something else (such as dividends from an investment). 

Fructus also gave us the name of the sugar fructose, as well as usufruct, which refers to the legal right to enjoy the fruits or profits of something that belongs to someone else.