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gamete

[gam-eet, guh-meet]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gamete ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Biology.

a mature sexual reproductive cell, as a sperm or egg, that unites with another cell to form a new organism.

Origin of gamete

1885–90; < New Latin gameta < Greek gamet- (stem of gametḗ wife, gamétēs husband), derivative of gameîn to marry
Related formsga·met·ic [guh-met-ik] /gəˈmɛt ɪk/, ga·me·tal [guh-meet-l] /gəˈmit l/, adjectivega·met·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gamete

seed, egg, spore, oosphere

Examples from the Web for gamete

Historical Examples of gamete

  • The two were mutually exclusive so far as the gamete was concerned.

    Mendelism

    Reginald Crundall Punnett

  • For on hypothesis every gamete must be pure for one or other of these two characters.

    Mendelism

    Reginald Crundall Punnett

  • The factor for this or that unit-character is either present in the gamete or it is not present.

    Mendelism

    Reginald Crundall Punnett

  • The saving grace is with the gamete, and with the gamete alone.

    Mendelism

    Reginald Crundall Punnett

  • It is the participation of the gamete in the process that is our criterion of what is and what is not heredity.

    Mendelism

    Reginald Crundall Punnett

British Dictionary definitions for gamete

gamete

noun

a haploid germ cell, such as a spermatozoon or ovum, that fuses with another germ cell during fertilization
Derived Formsgametal or gametic (ɡəˈmɛtɪk), adjective

Word Origin for gamete

C19: from New Latin, from Greek gametē wife, from gamos marriage
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
Word Origin and History for gamete
n.

"sexual protoplasmic body," 1880, coined 1878 by German cytologist Eduard Strasburger (1844-1912), the widespread attribution to Mendel being apparently erroneous; from Greek gamete "a wife," gametes "a husband," from gamein "to take to wife, to marry," from PIE root *gem(e)- "to marry" (cf. Greek gambros "son-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law;" Sanskrit jamih "brother, sister," jama daughter-in-law;" Avestan zama-tar "son-in-law;" Latin gener "son-in-law"). Cf. also -gamy. The seventh month of the ancient Attic calendar (corresponding to late January and early February) was Gamelion, "Month of Marriages."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
gamete in Medicine

gamete

[găm′ēt′, gə-mēt′]

n.

A reproductive cell having the haploid number of chromosomes, especially a sperm or egg capable of fusing with a gamete of the opposite sex to produce a fertilized egg.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
gamete in Science

gamete

[găm′ēt′]

A cell whose nucleus unites with that of another cell to form a new organism. A gamete contains only a single (haploid) set of chromosomes. Animal egg and sperm cells, the nuclei carried in grains of pollen, and egg cells in plant ovules are all gametes. Also called germ cell reproductive cell, sex cell See Note at mitosis.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
gamete in Culture

gamete

A reproductive cell having a single set of chromosomes, especially a mature sperm or egg.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.