ovum
Americannoun
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ova
plural
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Cell Biology.
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the female reproductive cell or gamete of animals, which is capable of developing, usually only after fertilization, into a new individual.
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the female reproductive cell or gamete of plants.
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Architecture. an oval ornament, as in an egg-and-dart molding.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ovum
First recorded in 1700–10; from Latin ōvum egg 1; cognate with Greek ōión
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Vocabulary lists containing ovum
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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The ovum was seen through a microscope in 1827.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2022
The second was what's called a "blighted ovum" where a gestational sac was found, but no embryo was developing.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2021
When a sperm and ovum combine during fertilization, the result is a single cell with a full set of genes, called the zygote.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2018
After careful study, it all — forgive me — boils down to four factors: preparation, heat-application method, cool-down period and the ovum itself.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2016
Lanning considered, “If you had all your equipment—the brain, the skeleton, the ovum, the proper hormones and radiations—say, two months.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
A female has a system “developed to produce ova” while a male has a system “developed to fertilize” that ova.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
The bill defines female as having XX chromosomes, and a reproductive and endocrine system that produces or would produce ova, or eggs.
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023
Scientifically speaking, animals with the capacity to produce ova are generally called “female” and sperm producers “male.”
From Scientific American ● May 1, 2023
But the fact that the woman produced ova did not necessarily mean she was a source of life.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2022
Fallopian, fal-lō′pi-an, adj. denoting two tubes or ducts through which the ova pass from the ovary to the uterus in the human subject.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
