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Glite Dictionary
💉 To vaccinate 🧠 To protect ideas 🦠 To add microbes 🌱 To graft
to inoculate

to inoculate

1 8.7
To put a bud from one plant onto another to grow a new plant
  • verb
  • /ɪˈnɑkjʊˌleɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : injertar en

Examples

  • He will use it to inoculate corn plants to test their blight resistance.

    Academic text (1997)

  • There, he inoculated 65 plant species, representing 10 families, so he could monitor their responses to the fungus.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Those that take root and grow are deliberately inoculated with the DED fungus to see which naturally resist the disease.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The gardener decided to inoculate the young trees with a special bud to help them grow stronger.

  • To improve the yield, farmers often inoculate their crops by inserting selected buds into healthy plants.

  • By inoculating the seedlings with disease-resistant buds, the horticulturist hoped to enhance their survival rate.

Synonyms

to graft
vsto inoculate
  • Specialized
6 5.6

To join part of one plant to another so they grow together

is limited to inserting only a bud for propagation
to engraft
vsto inoculate
  • Specialized
9.0

To join a part of one plant, like a stem or branch, to another so they grow together

focuses specifically on placing a bud rather than any plant part

Antonyms

to remove
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

Phrasal Verbs

to inoculate against
3 6.8

Protect a person from harm, often by giving a vaccine or preparing them to resist bad ideas

Surface Forms

inoculate infinitive
inoculated past
inoculated past participle
inoculating present participle
inoculates third person singular

Morphology

inoculate = in + ocul + ate

This botanical/grafting sense closely matches the historical formation (in- + ocul- 'eye'/'bud' + -ate), but the combining form 'ocul' is not a standalone English word, so the structure is only partially transparent to learners.

Etymology

Inoculate comes from Latin parts in- 'in' and oculus 'eye', because a plant 'eye' is a bud that can grow into a new shoot. Gardeners would 'put an eye' into another plant to join them, so to inoculate a plant means to graft a bud into it.