vernalization
noun
vernalization is a noun meaning “The treatment of seeds or bulbs by exposure to low temperatures so as to decrease the vegetative period or to cause the plant to flower or bear fruit…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled V-E-R-N-A-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N, and it appears about once in every 65 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of vernalization is vernalizations.
What does vernalization mean?
noun
- 1
The treatment of seeds or bulbs by exposure to low temperatures so as to decrease the vegetative period or to cause the plant to flower or bear fruit more quickly.
This low temperature requirement for flowering, called vernalization, begins at germination. Vernalization is assumed to occur at temperatures between 0 and 18°C (Ahrens and Loomis, 1963; Tirone and Metzer, 1970).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of vernalization
- vernalizations plural
- vernalisation
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is vernalization?
Vernalization appears about once in every 65 million words in written English, the 252,559th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Vernalization in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense certain treatment of seeds or bulbs:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vernalisation |
| German | Vernalisation, Vernalisierung, Jarowisation, Jarowisierung |
| Portuguese | vernalização |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does vernalization come from?
From vernal + -ization.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).