germinal vesicle

American  

noun

Embryology.

1. the large, vesicular nucleus of an ovum before the polar bodies are formed.

---

germinal vesicle British  

noun

1. biology the large nucleus of an oocyte before it develops into an ovum

---

Etymology

Origin of germinal vesicle

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

"The ovarian eggs of all animals are identical, small cells with vitellus, germinal vesicle and germinal spot."

From Facts and Arguments for Darwin by Muller, Fritz

I have not found a passage so striking as that which occurs a few lines lower “that the germinal vesicle is impressed with some power which is wonderfully preserved, &c.”

From The Foundations of the Origin of Species Two Essays written in 1842 and 1844 by Darwin, Francis, Sir

The nucleus of the ovum, or the germinal vesicle, is thus pressed right to the surface of the globular ovum, and is embedded there in a small quantity of transparent matter, the so-called white yelk.

From The Evolution of Man — Volume 1 by Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August

The germinal vesicle is so simple that it may be defined in a line.

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Spencer, Herbert

In the thick fine-grained yelk we find a clear round germinal vesicle of about 1/750 of an inch in diameter, and this encloses a small embryonic spot or nucleolus.

From The Evolution of Man — Volume 2 by Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August