Viviparous \Vi*vip"a*rous\, a. [L. viviparus; vivus alive + parere to bear, bring forth. Cf. Viper.]

(Biol.) Producing young in a living state, as most mammals, or as those plants the offspring of which are produced alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by the seeds themselves germinating on the plant, instead of falling, as they usually do; -- opposed to oviparous.

Viviparous fish. (Zo["o]l.) See Embiotocoid.

Viviparous shell (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of operculated fresh-water gastropods belonging to Viviparus, Melantho, and allied genera. Their young, when born, have a well-developed spiral shell.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)