Anisogamy

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ænaɪ̯ˈsɒɡəmi/

Definitions

1. The phenomenon in which reproductive cells vary in size and structure, leading to the production of one large and one small gamete
2. A reproductive strategy characterized by the presence of two distinct gamete types, differing in size and morphology
3. A reproductive characteristic defined by differentiating gametes that vary in size and structure between male and female organisms

Etymology: Anisogamy is a modern scientific coinage, built from two Ancient Greek pieces that were never put together in antiquity. The first part, "aniso-", comes from "ánisos", meaning "unequal" (the Greek "a-" is a negating prefix, and "ísos" means "equal"). The second part, "-gamy", comes from "gamía", a marriage or union, which itself grows from "gámos", marriage. Biologists took these classical roots and joined them to describe reproduction in which the two partners are unequal. The "unequal" in the name refers to gametes, the reproductive cells that fuse to form a new organism. In anisogamy the two cell types differ in size, and usually in shape and motility as well. The larger one is typically the female gamete and the smaller one the male, so the classical "marriage" is a pairing of unlike partners. The Greek roots describe the pattern itself rather than any particular organism, which is why the term applies across a wide range of species.