spermatozoid

American  

[spur-muh-tuh-zoh-id, spur-mat-uh-] / ˌspɜr mə təˈzoʊ ɪd, spɜrˌmæt ə- /

noun

Botany, Mycology.

1. a motile male gamete produced in an antheridium.

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spermatozoid British  

/ ˌspɜːmətəʊˈzəʊɪd /

noun

1. botany another name for antherozoid

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spermatozoid Scientific  

/ spər-măt′ə-zō′ĭd /

1. A male reproductive cell produced in an antheridium, as in algae, fungi, and nonflowering plants. Each spermatozoid has cilia that propel it toward the archegonium.

2. Also called antherozoid

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Etymology

Origin of spermatozoid

First recorded in 1855–60; spermatozo(on) + -id ¹

Example Sentences

In Coleochæte, the male cell is a round spermatozoid, and the female cell an oosphere contained in the base of a cell which is elongated into an open and hair-like tube called the trichogyne.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various

J, a small portion of one of these more magnified, showing a spermatozoid in each cell.

From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton

The former divides repeatedly, until a mass of about thirty-two sperm cells is formed, each giving rise to a large spirally-coiled spermatozoid.

From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton

The nucleus of the spermatozoid, on the contrary, begins to grow rapidly.

From The Sexual Question A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study by Forel, Auguste

The upper part consists of a single layer of large chlorophyll-bearing cells, enclosing a mass of very small, nearly cubical, colorless, sperm cells each of which contains an excessively small spermatozoid.

From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton