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apospory

[ap-uh-spawr-ee, -spohr-ee, uh-pos-puh-ree]
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noun Botany.
  1. the development of a gametophyte from a sporophyte without meiosis.
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Origin of apospory

First recorded in 1880–85; apo- + spor- + -y3
Related formsap·o·spor·ic [ap-uh-spawr-ik, -spor-] /ˌæp əˈspɔr ɪk, -ˈspɒr-/, a·pos·por·ous [uh-pos-per-uh s, ap-uh-spawr-uh s, -spor-] /əˈpɒs pər əs, ˌæp əˈspɔr əs, -ˈspɒr-/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for apospory

Historical Examples

  • This phenomenon of apospory was first discovered in mosses, but is now also known in a number of ferns (see Pteridophyta).

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3

    Various

British Dictionary definitions for apospory

apospory

noun
  1. botany development of the gametophyte from the sporophyte without the formation of spores
  2. the development of an embryo of a flowering plant outside the embryo sac, from a cell of the nucellus or chalaza
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Word Origin

C19: from apo- + spore + -y 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012