archegonium

American  

[ahr-ki-goh-nee-uhm] / ˌɑr kɪˈgoʊ ni əm /

noun

Botany.

plural

archegonia

1. the female reproductive organ in ferns, mosses, etc.

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archegonium British  

/ ˌɑːkɪˈɡəʊnɪəm /

noun

1. a female sex organ, occurring in mosses, spore-bearing vascular plants, and gymnosperms, that produces a single egg cell in its swollen base

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archegonium Scientific  

/ är′kĭ-gō′nē-əm /

plural

archegonia

1. The egg-producing organ occurring in bryophytes (such as mosses and liverworts), ferns, and most gymnosperms. The archegonium is a multicellular, often flask-shaped structure that contains a single egg.

2. Compare antheridium

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Other Word Forms

• archegonial adjective
• archegoniate adjective

Etymology

Origin of archegonium

1850–55; < New Latin, equivalent to archegon- (< Greek archégonos first of a race; arche-, gono- ) + -ium < Greek -ion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

They must swim, unaided, across an ephemeral film of water coating the nooks and crannies of mosses in search of an egg concealed within a protective structure called an archegonium.

From Scientific American

Cryptogamous plants with a distinct axis or stem, growing from the apex, and commonly not with later increase in diameter, usually furnished with distinct leaves; reproduction by antheridia and archegonia, sometimes also by gemmation.

From Project Gutenberg

Each megaspore may contain 2 to 6 archegonia.

From Project Gutenberg

The female organ in the bryophytes is called an “archegonium,” and differs considerably from anything we have yet studied, but recalls somewhat the structure of the oögonium of Chara.

From Project Gutenberg

When the archegonium opens by the separation of the cells at the tip, the disorganized canal-cells escape, leaving a narrow tubular passage leading down to the ovum.

From Project Gutenberg