Defn: Quality of being sterile; infecundity; also, the state of being free from germs or spores.
STERILIZATION
Ster`il*i*za"tion, n. (Biol.)
Defn: The act or process of sterilizing, or rendering sterile; also, the state of being sterile.
STERILIZE
Ster"il*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sterilized; p. pr. & vb. n.
Sterilizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. stériliser.]
1. To make sterile or unproductive; to impoverish, as land; to exhaust of fertility. [R.] "Sterilizing the earth." Woodward.
2. (Biol.) (a) To deprive of the power of reproducing; to render incapable of germination or fecundation; to make sterile. (b) To destroy all spores or germs in (an organic fluid or mixture), as by heat, so as to prevent the development of bacterial or other organisms.
STERILIZER
Ster"il*i`zer, n.
Defn: One that sterilizes anything; specif., an apparatus for sterilizing an organic fluid or mixture.
STERLET
Ster"let, n. Etym: [Russ. sterliade.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: A small sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus) found in the Caspian Sea and its rivers, and highly esteemed for its flavor. The finest caviare is made from its roe.