Ovum

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈəʊ.vəm/

Definitions

1. A gamete produced by the female in many organisms that plays a crucial role in reproduction by being fertilized by sperm to form a zygote
2. This round reproductive cell in the female contributes genetically to the offspring when it merges with male genetic material
3. A reproductive cell generated by females that unites with male gametes to initiate the development of a new organism

Etymology: The Latin "ovum" simply meant "egg," and English borrowed it in its original sense, so the word has been an egg all along. What makes it unusual is that it is a doublet of "egg" itself: both descend from the same ancient root, but one arrived through the Germanic speech of the English and the other was taken directly from Latin. The native "egg" came down through Old Norse and Old English, while "ovum" came straight from the classical language of scholars and physicians. That split is why English has two words for one object. Ordinary speech kept "egg," and the Latin form stayed in the technical vocabulary of biology and medicine, where it came to name the female reproductive cell rather than the shelled object people eat. The same pattern shows up in Spanish "huevo," French "oeuf," and Old English "ey," all cousins of the Latin form.

Synonyms: egg, ova