Antherozoids

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Cells that act as gametes in certain plant species, typically involved in reproduction and fertilization
2. Male reproductive cells in lower plants, such as mosses and ferns, that travel to fertilize the egg
3. Sperm-like structures in non-flowering plants that aid in the process of sexual reproduction by reaching the ovum

Etymology: "Antherozoids" is the plural of "antherozoid," a term for the motile male cells of mosses, ferns and their relatives. The name is a compound built from Ancient Greek roots, and its first half is a little surprising: "anthērós" meant "flowery," from "anthos," a flower. The "anther" of a flower, the pollen-bearing part, shares that root, so the name ties the male cell to the flower's anther even though these plants have no flowers. The second element is "zōion," meaning "animal" or "living creature," and the ending "-oid" means "resembling" or "in the form of." Put together, the word literally describes something like a flowery little animal-like body. Its coiners in the 19th century were naming organisms that swim like tiny animals, and they reached for classical roots to do it, the same method used for most scientific vocabulary of that era. The Greeks themselves never used the word.

Synonyms: sperm, gametes