ovum
Americannoun
-
ova
plural
-
Cell Biology.
-
the female reproductive cell or gamete of animals, which is capable of developing, usually only after fertilization, into a new individual.
-
the female reproductive cell or gamete of plants.
-
-
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
Compare meaning
How does ovum compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
See Examples For:
The ovum was seen through a microscope in 1827.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2022
The Oklahoma measure defines fertilisation as the "fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum".
From BBC ● May 19, 2022
Let us take a ride, For truly, sir, thy life is incomplete ’Til viridescent ovum thou hast tried Together with a slice of glaucous meat!
From Washington Post ● May 16, 2019
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
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
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
There are those, politicians, pundits and even a few scientists, who maintain that whether our bodies make ova or sperm are all we need to know about sex.
From Scientific American ● May 1, 2023
“Female” is defined as someone “whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova,” while “male” refers to those “whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female.”
From Washington Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
But the fact that the woman produced ova did not necessarily mean she was a source of life.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2022
Segmenting unequally; Ð said of telolecithal ova with complete segmentation.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Noah Webster
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.
