oosphere

American  

[oh-uh-sfeer] / ˈoʊ əˌsfɪər /

noun

Biology.

1. an unfertilized egg within an oogonium.

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oosphere British  

/ ˈəʊəˌsfɪə /

noun

1. a large female gamete produced in the oogonia of algae and fungi

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oosphere Scientific  

/ ō′ə-sfîr′ /

1. A large nonmotile female gamete formed in an oogonium, such as the eggs formed in the oogonium of an oomycete.

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Etymology

Origin of oosphere

First recorded in 1870–75; oo- + -sphere

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oosphere

We thus have a process of “multiple fertilization”; the oosphere really represents a large number of undifferentiated gametes and has been termed a coenogamete.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

The sexual generation is a small green thalloid structure called a prothallium, which bears antheridia and archegonia, each archegonium having a neck-canal and oosphere, which is fertilized just as in the moss.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various

Down this canal pass one or more antherozoids, which become absorbed into the oosphere, and this then secretes a wall, and from it grows the second or asexual generation.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various

These are of the ordinary type of those organs, namely, a broad lower portion, containing a naked oosphere and a long narrow neck with a central canal leading to the oosphere.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various

The subsequent behavior of the pollen cell, its division and its fertilization of the germinal vesicle or oosphere, leave no doubt as to its analogy with the microspore of vascular cryptogams.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various