sperm

¹

[spurm]

noun

plural

sperm, sperms 

1. semen.

2. a male reproductive cell; spermatozoon.

sperm

²

[spurm]

noun

1. spermaceti.

2. sperm whale.

3. sperm oil.

sperm-

³

1. variant of spermo- before a vowel.

   spermine.

-sperm

⁴

1. a combining form with the meaning “one having seeds” of the kind specified by the initial element.

   gymnosperm.

sperm

¹

/ spɜːm /

noun

1. another name for semen

2. a male reproductive cell; male gamete

sperm

²

/ spɜːm /

noun

1. short for sperm whale spermaceti sperm oil

-sperm

³

combining form

1. (in botany) a seed

   gymnosperm

sperm

1. The smaller, usually motile male reproductive cell of most organisms that reproduce sexually. Sperm cells are haploid (they have half the number of chromosomes as the other cells in the organism's body). Sperm often have at least one flagellum. During fertilization, the nucleus of a sperm fuses with the nucleus of the much larger egg cell (the female reproductive cell) to form a new organism. In male animals, sperm are normally produced by the testes in extremely large numbers in order to increase the chances of fertilizing an egg. Motile sperm cells produced by some multicellular protist groups (such as the algae), the bryophyte plants, and the seedless vascular plants, require water to swim to the egg cell. In gymnosperms and angiosperms, sperm do not need water for mobility but are carried to the female reproductive organs in the pollen grain. In the cycads and the gingko (both gymnosperms), the sperm are motile and propel themselves down the pollen tube to reach the egg cell. In the conifers and angiosperms, the sperm are not themselves motile but are conveyed to the ovule by the growing pollen tube.

sperm

1. The male sex cell, typically consisting of a head, midpiece, and tail. (See fertilization.)

Sperm are much smaller than the ova they fertilize.

Other Word Forms

• -spermous combining form

Word History and Origins

Origin of sperm¹

1350–1400; Middle English sperme < Late Latin sperma < Greek spérma seed, equivalent to sper- (base of speírein to sow seeds) + -ma noun suffix of result

Origin of sperm²

First recorded in 1830–40; by shortening

Origin of sperm³

< Greek -spermos; -spermous

Word History and Origins

Origin of sperm¹

C14: from Late Latin sperma, from Greek; related to Greek speirein to sow

A Closer Look

The human sperm cell is divided into a head that contains the nucleus, a mid-section that contains mitochondria to provide energy for the sperm, and a flagellum that allows the sperm to move. When fertilization occurs, the nucleus and other contents from the sperm cells are drawn into the cytoplasm of the egg, but the mitochondria in the sperm are destroyed and do not survive in the zygote. Since mitochondria contain their own DNA (thought to be a relic from an existence as separate symbiotic organisms), all of the mitochrondrial DNA in humans is thus inherited from the female. The semen produced by the male reproductive tract as a medium for sperm typically contains over 100 million sperm cells, all of which have but one purpose: to fertilize the single available egg.

Example Sentences

US scientists have, for the first time, made early-stage human embryos by manipulating DNA taken from people's skin cells and then fertilising it with sperm.

From BBC

Reproduction used to be a simple story of man's sperm meets woman's egg.

From BBC

These were fertilised with sperm and some progressed onto the early stages of embryos development.

From BBC

This technology is part of a growing field aiming to make sperm and eggs outside of the body, known as in vitro gametogenesis.

From BBC

It could help older women who are no longer have viable eggs, men who don't produce enough sperm or people whose cancer treatment has left them infertile.

From BBC

Related Words

• berry 
• corn 
• egg 
• grain 
• nut 

When To Use

What does sperm- mean?

Sperm- is a combining form used like a prefix representing “sperm.” Sperm are the reproductive cells contained in semen. Sperm- means "sperm" both literally and figuratively, as in "germ" or "seed." It is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology.Sperm- comes from the Greek spérma, meaning “seed.”What are variants of sperm-?Sperm- is a variant of spermo-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.The forms spermi- and spermato- are also combining forms from Greek spérma that are variously used to mean "sperm" or "seed."Related combining forms used as suffixes include -sperm, -spermal, -spermic, and -spermous.Want to learn more? Check out our Words That Use entries for each of these seven forms.