ovule

[ ov-yool, oh-vyool ]

noun

1. Botany.
   1. a rudimentary seed.
   2. the plant part that contains the embryo sac and hence the female germ cell, which after fertilization develops into a seed.
2. Biology. a small egg.

ovule

/ ˈɒvjuːl /

noun

1. a small body in seed-bearing plants that consists of the integument(s), nucellus, and embryosac (containing the egg cell) and develops into the seed after fertilization
2. zoology an immature ovum

ovule

/ ō′vyo̅o̅l,ŏv′yo̅o̅l /

1. The female reproductive structure that develops into a seed in a seed-bearing plant. An ovule consists of a megasporangium surrounded by one or two layers of tissue called integuments. The megasporangium produces spores that develop into megagametophytes. These megagametophytes remain within the tissues of the ovule and produce one or more egg cells. Sperm from pollen grains enter the ovule through an opening called a micropyle and fertilize the egg cells. The resulting embryo then begins to develop within the ovule, which becomes a seed. Among the conifers and cycads, the ovules are typically found in pairs on scales in the female cones. The ovules of angiosperms are contained in a structure called the ovary within in the flower.
2. See more at flower

Derived Forms

• ˈovular, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ovule¹

First recorded in 1820–30, ovule is from the Latin word ōvulum little egg. See ovum, -ule

Word History and Origins

Origin of ovule¹

C19: via French from Medieval Latin ōvulum a little egg, from Latin ōvum egg

Example Sentences

It also explains why sometimes you get cobs with bare patches—sometimes not every ovule gets fertilized.

From Popular-Science

Before those ears look anything like the juicy kernel-covered cob you eat, they’re essentially a hard cylinder covered in hundreds of unfertilized ovules.

From Popular-Science

Each of these ovules grows a single silk, which reaches up and out of the top of the husk, where it dangles in the hopes of catching a bit of pollen on its little sticky hairs.

From Popular-Science

We know he had been for many years interested in the ovule, and he made a number of important discoveries respecting it.

From Project Gutenberg

We must recollect that the comparative morphology of the ovule (in the wide sense) was not attempted.

From Project Gutenberg

When at Malacca Griffith interested himself among many other problems in the ovule and the development of the seed of Avicennia.

From Project Gutenberg

Interest in the structure of the ovule and the nature of fertilisation was widespread at the time Griffith worked.

From Project Gutenberg

The ovary is free, and the carpels, one or more in number, contain each a single ovule.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• berry
• corn
• egg
• grain
• nut