Ovum

ovum (o´vum) pl. o´va   [L.]

1. the female reproductive cell which, after fertilization, becomes a zygote that develops into a new member of the same species.

2. imprecise term for oocyte.

3. formerly, any of various stages from the primary oocyte to the implanting blastocyst.

4. in some species, any stage from the unfertilized female reproductive cell, through the developing embryo surrounded by nutrient material and protective covering, up to the point when the young emerge.

---

o·vum (vm)

n. pl. o·va (v)

The female reproductive cell or gamete; egg.

---

Ovum (plural: ova)

The reproductive cell of the female, which contains genetic information and participates in the act of fertilization. Also popularly called the egg.

Mentioned in: Infertility

---

ovum (ō´vm),

n (
pl ova) a female reproductive or germ cell (egg) containing 23 chromosomes. The cell can be fertilized.

---

ovum

pl. ova [L.] egg; the female reproductive or germ cell which, after fertilization, is capable of developing into a new member of the same species; sometimes applied to any stage of the fertilized germ cell during cleavage and even until hatching or birth of the new animal.

---

centrolecithal ovum

one with the yolk concentrated at the center of the egg, surrounded by a peripheral shell of cytoplasm, and with an island of cystoplasm surrounding the nucleus.

holoblastic ovum

one that undergoes total cleavage.

isolecithal ovum

one with a small amount of yolk evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm.

meroblastic ovum

one that undergoes partial cleavage.

ovum penetration assay

a biological assay using hamster, or other, zona-free ova as the test medium for the penetrating ability of individual samples of semen.

primitive ovum, primordial ovum

any egg cell very early in its development.

telolecithal ovum

one with a comparatively large amount of yolk massed at one pole.

ovum transplant

an ovum that has been fertilized in utero is recovered from the dam by flushing from the uterus, inspected under the microscope to ensure viability and transferred to the uterus of an estral female. The donor female has usually been superovulated so that a number of ova can be salvaged in the one operation.