mature male reproductive cell, sperm cell
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Spermatozoa Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
(pl. )
of Spermatozoon
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. Aboutof Spermatozoon
Noun
1. the male reproductive cell; the male gamete; "a sperm is mostly a nucleus surrounded by little other cellular material"
(synonym) sperm, sperm cell, spermatozoan
(hypernym) gamete
(part-holonym) male reproductive system
(part-meronym) flagellum
Spermatozoa Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
A spermatozoon (alternate spelling spermatozoön; plural spermatozoa) is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote. (A zygote is a single cell, with a complete set of chromosomes, that normally develops into an embryo.) The term spermatozoon comes from the Greek word σπέρμα (seed) and (living being). Sperm cells contribute approximately half of the nuclear genetic information to the diploid offspring (excluding, in most cases, mitochondrial DNA). In mammals, the sex of the offspring is determined by the sperm cell: a spermatozoon bearing a Y chromosome will lead to a male (XY) offspring, while one bearing an X chromosome will lead to a female (XX) offspring—the ovum always providing an X chromosome. Sperm cells were first observed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek in 1677.
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