- Ovum
- Ovum O"vum ([=o]"v[u^]m), n.; pl. L. {Ova} ([=o]"v[.a]), E.
{Ovums} ([=o]"v[u^]mz). [L., an egg. See {Oval}.]
1. (Biol.) A more or less spherical and transparent cell,
which by a process of multiplication and growth develops
into a mass of cells, constituting a new individual like
the parent; an egg, spore, germ, or germ cell. See Illust.
of {Mycropyle}.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The ovum is a typical cell, with a cell wall, cell substance, nucleus, and nucleolus. In man and the higher animals the cell wall, a vertically striated membrane, is called the zona pellucida; the cell contents, the vitellus; the nucleus, the germinal vesicle; and the nucleolus, the germinal spot. The diameter of the ripe ovum in man and the domestic animals varies between 1-200 and 1-120 of an inch. [1913 Webster]
2. (Arch.) One of the series of egg-shaped ornaments into which the ovolo is often carved. --Gwilt. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
