A substance added to soil to make plants grow better by providing nutrients.
From fertile (from Latin fertilis, related to ferre meaning to bear) plus -ise/-ize (to make) and -er (agent noun). The word emerged in the 18th-19th century with industrial agriculture.
The invention of synthetic fertiliser in 1909 literally saved billions of lives—it allowed one farmer to feed ten times more people, which is why the Haber-Bosch process is arguably the most important chemical reaction in human history.
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