oosphere

See also: oosphère and oösphere

English

WOTD – 20 July 2024

Etymology

PIE word
*h₂ōwyóm

A micrograph of an oogonium of a brown alga (genus Fucus), with a number of oospheres (one marked A) inside.

A drawing of the oogonium of a fungus showing oospheres inside it.

From oo- (prefix denoting something relating to eggs or ova) +‎ sphere, modelled after French oosphère.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊəsfɪə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊoʊˌsfɪ(ə)ɹ/
• Hyphenation: oo‧sphere

Noun

oosphere (plural oospheres)

1. (botany, mycology) A large nonmotile egg cell, especially of an alga or fungus, formed in an oogonium and ready for fertilization.

   Synonym: ooplast

Alternative forms

• oösphere (archaic)

Related terms

• oogamete
• oogonium
• ooplast
• oospore

Translations

large nonmotile egg cell formed in an oogonium

• Catalan: oosfera f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: munasolu (fi)
• French: oosphère (fr) f
• German: Oosphäre f
• Ido: oosfero (io)
• Italian: oosfera (it) f, ovocellula f
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: oosfera (pt) f
• Romanian: oosferă (ro) f
• Spanish: oósfera f
• Telugu: అండగోళము (aṇḍagōḷamu)
• Vietnamese: noãn cầu

Further reading

• egg cell on Wikipedia.Wikipedia