a. Obs.–1 [ad. L. fruticant-em pr. pple. of fruticāre to sprout.] Putting forth shoots, sprouting. Also † Fruticate v. Obs.–1 intr. To shoot, sprout. † Frutication. Obs.–0 [L. fruticātiōn-em.] (See quot.)
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Frutication, sprouting out of young sprigs, a springing forth.
1657. Tomlinson, Renou’s Disp., 148. In which plentifull Soyl, many of the same kind fruticate and occur us.
1664. Evelyn, Sylva (1679), 2. These [trees] we shall divide into the greater and more deciduous, fruticant, and shrubby.
1740. Tull, Suppl. Horse-hoing, 260. The other Fields … being planted late, could not be ho’d till after the time of Frutication (i.e. Tillering) was past.
