caprification means A process for ripening, or pollinating, figs by means of their being punctured artificially, in a manner designed to replicate the way they are pierced by certain insects, which was once thought to aid in their reproduction. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “caprification” is a great word
CAPRIFICATION — [Noun] An ancient horticultural process for pollinating certain cultivated fig trees by suspending branches of caprifigs (inedible wild figs) among them to facilitate the transfer of pollen by a specific species of fig wasp. From Latin caprifīcātiōnem, from caprifīcus ("wild fig tree"), from caper ("goat") + fīcus ("fig"). First attested in English in 1601. Unlike general "pollination" (the broad, natural transfer of pollen) or "grafting" (the surgical fusion of plant tissues to propagate a cultivar), caprification is a deliberate, symbiotic intervention—an orchestrated deception of nature for a sweeter yield. It is the farmer hanging gnarled, pungent branches in the still orchard air; the tiny, purposeful wasp navigating the labyrinthine interior of the flower; the hidden pact between wild and cultivated, without which the sweet, seed-filled heart would never form—a quiet testament that the most delicate fruits often depend on the most oblique of technologies.
noun
- A process for ripening, or pollinating, figs by means of their being punctured artificially, in a manner designed to replicate the way they are pierced by certain insects, which was once thought to aid in their reproduction.“I should conjecture […] that the caprification is either an antient process of imaginary use, and blindly followed in some countries, or that it may contribute to ripen the fig by decreasing its vigour […].”