Spermatozoon

//ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.

    "But let us suppose [...] that one hardy or lucky spermatozoon has reached the waiting egg."

  2. 2
    the male reproductive cell; the male gamete wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
ovumspermsperm cellsperm cellandrocyteanlage

Example

More examples

"When a spermatozoon meets an egg these two come together and form a larger cell that will grow into the woman's belly and become a baby."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “sperm”) + ζῷον (zōîon, “living thing”), equivalent to spermato- + -zoon.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.