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ovum

[ oh-vuh m ]
/ ˈoʊ vəm /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ovum ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural o·va [oh-vuh] /ˈoʊ və/.

Cell Biology.
  1. the female reproductive cell or gamete of animals, which is capable of developing, usually only after fertilization, into a new individual.
  2. the female reproductive cell or gamete of plants.
Architecture. an oval ornament, as in an egg-and-dart molding.

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RELATED WORDS

seed, egg, gamete, spore, oosphere

Nearby words

  1. ovulation method,
  2. ovulatory,
  3. ovule,
  4. ovulocyclic,
  5. ovulum,
  6. ow,
  7. owatonna,
  8. owe,
  9. owelty,
  10. owen

Origin of ovum

1700–10; < Latin ōvum egg1; cognate with Greek ōión
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ovum

British Dictionary definitions for ovum

ovum

/ (ˈəʊvəm) /

noun plural ova (ˈəʊvə)

an unfertilized female gamete; egg cell

Word Origin for ovum

from Latin: egg
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

Word Origin and History for ovum

ovum

n.

(plural ova), 1706, from Latin ovum "egg," cognate with Greek oon, Old Norse egg, Old English æg, all perhaps from PIE root *awi- (see egg (n.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Medicine definitions for ovum

ovum

[ ō′vəm ]

n. pl. o•va (ō′və)

The female reproductive cell or gamete; egg.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Science definitions for ovum

ovum

[ ō′vəm ]

Plural ova

The mature reproductive cell of female animals, produced in the ovaries. See more at egg.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.