Tetrasporangium

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specialized sac in certain algae and plants in which meiosis produces four spores at once
2. The reproductive case of some red and brown algae or non-flowering plants that yields a set of four spores
3. A structure formed in certain seaweeds and lower plants that encloses four haploid spores after division

Etymology: Tetrasporangium is a botanical term for a sporangium, the spore-producing sac found in algae and some plants, that contains four spores produced by meiosis. The word is built from "tetra-", the Greek combining form meaning "four", attached to "sporangium", itself a modern scientific coinage from Greek "sporos" (seed, spore) and "angeion" (vessel, container). Biologists assembled these classical parts to name a specific structure, so the word describes exactly what the sac holds: four spores, a plain and deliberate piece of scientific naming.