polyembryony

American  

[pol-ee-em-bree-uh-nee, -oh-nee, -em-brahy-uh-nee] / ˌpɒl iˈɛm bri ə ni, -ˌoʊ ni, -ɛmˈbraɪ ə ni /

noun

Embryology.

1. the production of more than one embryo from one egg.

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polyembryony British  

/ ˌpɒlɪˌɛmbrɪˈɒnɪk, ˌpɒlɪˈɛmbrɪənɪ /

noun

1. the production of more than one embryo from a single fertilized egg cell: occurs in certain plants and parasitic hymenopterous insects

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polyembryony Scientific  

/ pŏl′ē-ĕm′brē-ə-nē,-ĕm-brī′- /

1. Development from a single fertilized egg cell or, in plants, from a single ovule. In human beings, identical twins are the result of polyembryony. In gymnosperm plants, polyembryony involves the fertilization of more than one egg, though usually only one embryo survives in the ovule.

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Other Word Forms

• polyembryonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of polyembryony

1840–50; poly- + Greek émbryon embryo + -y ³