把養分放進土裡
這一支就是核心畫面本身，看得見也摸得到。
verb · B2
To put fertilizer — food for plants, such as compost or a mix of chemicals — on soil or on plants, so that they grow better.
施肥
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: putting something in now so that something grows later. A hand works compost into the bed, and nothing looks different that evening — the change shows up weeks afterwards, in what comes up. Every use keeps both halves of that picture: something goes in, and growth follows.
可以想成：現在把一樣東西放進去，之後才長得出來。手把堆肥翻進土裡，當天晚上看起來什麼都沒變；改變要等幾個星期，長在冒…更多收起
可以想成：現在把一樣東西放進去，之後才長得出來。手把堆肥翻進土裡，當天晚上看起來什麼都沒變；改變要等幾個星期，長在冒出來的東西上。這個字的每一種用法都保留了這兩段：先有東西被放進去，然後才有新的東西長出來。From the word’s history
Recorded as fertile plus -ize, taken in through French fertiliser. The literal build is 'make able to bear', which is exactly the two-part picture: put in what is needed, and growth becomes possible.
來源記載是 fertile（能長出東西的）加上字尾 -ize，經法文 fertiliser 進入英文。字面組合就是「使某樣東西能長得出來」，正好是那個兩段式的畫面：先補上需要的，長才變成可能。
Wiktionary etymology supplied in the evidence packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1138437708:14329)
Three branches
讓新生命開始
同一個畫面縮到一顆卵裡：放進去的不是肥料，是另一個細胞。
verb · B2
To make a new animal or plant start to grow, by joining a male cell such as sperm or pollen with an egg or a female cell.
使受精；使受粉
讓想法長出來
把土換成腦袋，其餘照舊：先翻進新的東西，想法之後才冒出來。
verb · C2
To feed someone's mind or someone's work with new material, so that fresh ideas grow out of it. One field of work can also fertilize another in the same way.
滋養（想法、創作）