ovum

[oh-vuh m] /ˈoʊ vəm/
noun, plural ova
[oh-vuh] /ˈoʊ və/ (Show IPA)
1.
Cell Biology.
  1. the female reproductive cell or gamete of animals, which is capable of developing, usually only after fertilization, into a new individual.
  2. the female reproductive cell or gamete of plants.
2.
Architecture. an oval ornament, as in an egg-and-dart molding.
Origin
1700-10; < Latin ōvum egg1; cognate with Greek ōión
Examples from the web for ovum
  • About every month after menstruation starts, an ovary releases an egg, called an ovum.
  • The ovum remains centered within the jelly so that its upper surface lies slightly below the plane of the water surface.
British Dictionary definitions for ovum

ovum

/ˈəʊvəm/
noun (pl) ova (ˈəʊvə)
1.
an unfertilized female gamete; egg cell
Word Origin
from Latin: egg
Word Origin and History for ovum
n.

(plural ova), 1706, from Latin ovum "egg," cognate with Greek oon, Old Norse egg, Old English æg, all perhaps from PIE root *awi- (see egg (n.)).

ovum in Medicine

ovum o·vum (ō'vəm)
n. pl. o·va (ō'və)
The female reproductive cell or gamete; egg.

ovum in Science
ovum
  (ō'vəm)   
Plural ova
The mature reproductive cell of female animals, produced in the ovaries. See more at egg.
Encyclopedia Article for ovum

in human physiology, single cell released from either of the female reproductive organs, the ovaries, which is capable of developing into a new organism when fertilized (united) with a sperm cell

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