microgamete

[mahy-kroh-gam-eet, -guh-meet]

noun

Cell Biology.

1. (in heterogamous reproduction) the smaller and, usually, the male of two conjugating gametes.

microgamete

/ ˌmaɪkrəʊˈɡæmiːt /

noun

1. the smaller and apparently male of two gametes in conjugating protozoans Compare macrogamete

microgamete

1. The smaller of a pair of conjugating gametes, usually the male, in an organism that reproduces by heterogamy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of microgamete¹

First recorded in 1890–95; micro- + gamete

Example Sentences

The finer details of structure of the microgamete of a malarial parasite cannot be said, however, to be thoroughly known, and it is by no means impossible that its structure is really trypaniform, as, according to Schaudinn’s great work, is the case with the merozoites and sporozoites.

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The microgamete in this case is the male element and equivalent to a spermatozoon; the megagamete is the female and equivalent to an egg-cell.

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The quality of maleness consists only in the size, form, and mobility of the sperm in the higher animals and of the microgamete in other cases.

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But what is sex but the difference between ovum and spermatozoon, between megagamete and microgamete?

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In previous discussions of the subject I have urged that the only meaning of sex was the difference between the megagamete or ovum, and the microgamete or sperm.

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