megaspore

[ meg-uh-spawr, -spohr ]

/ ˈmɛg əˌspɔr, -ˌspoʊr /

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noun Botany.

the larger of the two kinds of spores characteristically produced by seed plants and a few fern allies, developing into a female gametophyte.Compare microspore.

the embryo sac of a flowering plant.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

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Also called macrospore.

Origin of megaspore

First recorded in 1885–90; mega- + spore

OTHER WORDS FROM megaspore

meg·a·spor·ic

[meg-uh-spawr-ik, -spor-], /ˌmɛg əˈspɔr ɪk, -ˈspɒr-/, adjective

Words nearby megaspore

Megara, Megaris, megaron, megascopic, megasporangium, megaspore, megaspore mother cell, megasporocyte, megasporogenesis, megasporophyll, megass

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use megaspore in a sentence

In Welwitschia also the megaspore is filled with prothallus-tissue, but single egg-cells take the place of archegonia.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7|Various

British Dictionary definitions for megaspore

megaspore

/ (ˈmɛɡəˌspɔː) /

noun

Also called: macrospore the larger of the two types of spore produced by some spore-bearing plants, which develops into the female gametophyteCompare microspore (def. 1)

the cell in flowering plants that gives rise to the embryo sac

Derived forms of megaspore

megasporic, adjective

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

Scientific definitions for megaspore

megaspore

[ mĕg′ə-spôr ]

One of the two types of haploid spores produced by a heterosporous plant. Megaspores develop into female gametophytes and are usually larger than microspores.