Spermophore

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A structure or capsule produced by certain male animals, such as spiders or insects, containing sperm to be transferred to the female during reproduction
2. A specialized sac or packet created by some species to deliver sperm to a mate for the purpose of fertilization
3. A reproductive organ or container in various arthropods designed to hold and transfer male gametes to a female partner during mating

Etymology: Spermatophore is built from two Greek-derived parts that each carry a plain, literal sense. "Sperma" means seed, and "-phoros" comes from the Greek verb "pherein," to carry, so the whole word means something like "seed-bearer." Biologists use it for a small packet of sperm that a male animal deposits, often outside its own body, for the female to take up. The sperm sit inside a protective casing rather than travelling loose, which is why the word names the container and not the cells themselves. The "-phore" ending is a productive suffix in scientific vocabulary, found in words like "chromophore" and "ribophore." Its job is always the same: to name the thing that carries or bears what the first element names. Compared with many technical terms, this one is transparent, so a reader who knows "sperm" and "carrier" can already guess its meaning.

Synonyms: spermatophore