ovum
Americannoun
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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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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 fusion of these two membranes creates an opening through which the sperm nucleus is transferred into the ovum.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 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
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
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
They are then known as egg cells or ova.
From Being Well-Born An Introduction to Eugenics by Guyer, Michael F.
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.
