Two plants standing apart in a field. leaves one of them and lands on the other, so the seed that forms is not a copy of either parent — it carries something from both. The word holds the whole of that: the crossing over, and the new thing that grows because of it.
可以想成田裡有兩株分開站著的植物。花粉從這一株飛到那一株身上。結出來的種子因此不是任何一邊的複製品，它兩邊的東西都帶著一點。這個字把整件事包在裡面：跨過去，以及跨過去之後長出來的新東西。
From the word’s history
The word is built from cross- (going over from one side to another) and fertilize (to make something able to produce new life). So it literally names fertilizing that crosses over, instead of staying on one plant.
這個字是 cross-（從一邊跨到另一邊）加上 fertilize（使受精、使能結出新的生命）組成的。字面上就是「跨過去發生的受精」，而不是留在自己身上。
Wiktionary, "cross-fertilize"
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。