GAMETE

gamete

(noun) a mature sexual reproductive cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

gamete (plural gametes)

(cytology) A reproductive cell (sperm in males or eggs in females), having only half of a complete set of chromosomes.

Synonyms

• sex cell

• See also gamete

Hypernyms

• germ cell

Hyponyms

• spermatozoon

• sperm

• ovum

• egg

Anagrams

• metage

Source: Wiktionary


Gam"ete (gam"et; ga*met"; the latter usually in compounds), n. [Gr. gameth` wife, or game`ths husband, fr. gamei^n to marry.] (Biol.)

Definition: A sexual cell or germ cell; a conjugating cell which unites with another of like or unlike character to form a new individual. In Bot., gamete designates esp. the similar sex cells of the lower thallophytes which unite by conjugation, forming a zygospore. The gametes of higher plants are of two sorts, sperm (male) and egg (female); their union is called fertilization, and the resulting zygote an oöspore. In Zoöl., gamete is most commonly used of the sexual cells of certain Protozoa, though also extended to the germ cells of higher forms.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

6 May 2025

HEEDLESS

(adjective) marked by or paying little heed or attention; “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics”--Franklin D. Roosevelt; “heedless of danger”; “heedless of the child’s crying”


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Coffee Trivia

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.

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