ovule
|o-vule|
🇺🇸
/ˈoʊvjuːl/
🇬🇧
/ˈəʊvjuːl/
small egg / seed precursor
Etymology
'ovule' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'ovulum,' where 'ovum' meant 'egg'.
'ovule' came into English via Medieval/Modern Latin 'ovulum' (a diminutive of 'ovum') and was adopted into English with little change to form or spelling.
Initially, it meant 'small egg' (a diminutive of 'egg'), but over time it came to be used especially for the plant structure (the seed precursor) and sometimes for an egg cell in older texts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
in seed plants (botany): the structure in the ovary that develops into a seed after fertilization; contains the female gametophyte (the embryo sac).
Each ovule in the flower contains an embryo sac that may be fertilized by pollen.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/17 16:55