Gamete \Gam"ete\ (g[a^]m"[=e]t; g[.a]*m[=e]t"; the latter
usually in compounds), n. [Gr. gameth` wife, or game`ths
husband, fr. gamei^n to marry.]
(Biol.)
A sexual cell or germ cell; a conjugating cell which unites
with another of like or unlike character to form a new
individual. In Bot., gamete designates esp. the similar sex
cells of the lower thallophytes which unite by conjugation,
forming a zygospore. The gametes of higher plants are of two
sorts, sperm (male) and egg (female); their union is
called fertilization, and the resulting zygote an o["o]spore.
In Zo["o]l., gamete is most commonly used of the sexual cells
of certain Protozoa, though also extended to the germ cells
of higher forms.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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Egg \Egg\, n. [OE., fr. Icel. egg; akin to AS. [ae]g (whence OE.
ey), Sw. ["a]gg, Dan. [ae]g, G. & D. ei, and prob. to OSlav.
aje, jaje, L. ovum, Gr. 'w,o`n, Ir. ugh, Gael. ubh, and perh.
to L. avis bird. Cf. Oval.]
1. (Popularly) The oval or roundish body laid by domestic
poultry and other birds, tortoises, etc. It consists of a
yolk, usually surrounded by the ``white'' or albumen, and
inclosed in a shell or strong membrane.
2. (Biol.) A simple cell, from the development of which the
young of animals are formed; ovum; germ cell.
3. Anything resembling an egg in form.
Note: Egg is used adjectively, or as the first part of
self-explaining compounds; as, egg beater or
egg-beater, egg case, egg ladle, egg-shaped, etc.
Egg and anchor (Arch.), an egg-shaped ornament, alternating
with another in the form of a dart, used to enrich the
ovolo; -- called also egg and dart, and egg and
tongue. See Anchor, n., 5. --Ogilvie.
Egg cleavage (Biol.), a process of cleavage or
segmentation, by which the egg undergoes endogenous
division with formation of a mass of nearly similar cells,
from the growth and differentiation of which the new
organism is ultimately formed. See Segmentation of the
ovum, under Segmentation.
Egg development (Biol.), the process of the development of
an egg, by which the embryo is formed.
Egg mite (Zo["o]l.), any mite which devours the eggs of
insects, as Nothrus ovivorus, which destroys those of
the canker worm.
Egg parasite (Zo["o]l.), any small hymenopterous insect,
which, in the larval stage, lives within the eggs of other
insects. Many genera and species are known.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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