embryo

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em·bry·o

(ĕm′brē-ō′)

n. pl. em·bry·os

a. The collection of cells that has developed from the fertilized egg of a vertebrate animal, before all the major organs have developed.

b. A collection of such cells of a human, especially from implantation in the uterine wall through the eighth week of development.

2. Botany The young sporophytic plant contained within a seed or an archegonium.

3. An organism at any time before full development, birth, or hatching.

4. A rudimentary or beginning stage: an idea that was the embryo of a short story.

[Medieval Latin embryō, from Greek embruon : en-, in; see en-² + bruein, to be full to bursting.]

embryo

(ˈɛmbrɪˌəʊ)

n, pl -bryos

1. (Zoology) an animal in the early stages of development following cleavage of the zygote and ending at birth or hatching

2. (Gynaecology & Obstetrics) the human product of conception up to approximately the end of the second month of pregnancy. Compare fetus

3. (Botany) a plant in the early stages of development: in higher plants, the plumule, cotyledons, and radicle within the seed

4. an undeveloped or rudimentary state (esp in the phrase in embryo)

5. something in an early stage of development: an embryo of an idea.

[C16: from Late Latin, from Greek embruon, from bruein to swell]

ˈembryˌoid adj

em•bry•o

(ˈɛm briˌoʊ)

n., pl. -os,
adj. n.

1. an animal in the early stages of development in the womb or egg; in humans, the stage approximately from attachment of the fertilized egg to the uterine wall until about the eighth week of pregnancy. Compare fetus, zygote.

2. the rudimentary plant usu. contained in the seed.

3. the beginning or rudimentary stage of anything.

adj.

4. embryonic.

[1580–90; < Medieval Latin embryō, s. embryōn- < Greek émbryon=em- em-² + -bryon, derivative of brýein to be full, swell, teem with (compare brýon catkin)]

embryo-

a combining form representing embryo: embryology.

Also, esp. before a vowel,embry-.

em·bry·o

(ĕm′brē-ō′)

1. An animal in its earliest stages of development, especially in the uterus of female mammals, or, in egg-laying animals, an animal developing in the egg until it is hatched.

2. A plant in its earliest stages of development, especially the miniature, partially developed plant contained within a seed. When conditions are right for germination, the embryo begins to grow and bursts through the seed coat.

embryonic (ĕm′brē-ŏn′ĭk) adjective

embryo

1. A plant or animal that is at an early stage of its development.

2. A young animal in an early phase of development. In humans the phase lasts from the third through the eighth week after fertilization.

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Noun	1.	embryo - (botany) a minute rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an archegonium plant life, flora, plant - (botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion phytology, botany - the branch of biology that studies plants
	2.	embryo - an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life conceptus, fertilized egg animal, animate being, beast, creature, fauna, brute - a living organism characterized by voluntary movement blastosphere, blastula - early stage of an embryo produced by cleavage of an ovum; a liquid-filled sphere whose wall is composed of a single layer of cells; during this stage (about eight days after fertilization) implantation in the wall of the uterus occurs gastrula - double-walled stage of the embryo resulting from invagination of the blastula; the outer layer of cells is the ectoderm and the inner layer differentiates into the mesoderm and endoderm morula - a solid mass of blastomeres that forms when the zygote splits; develops into the blastula umbilical, umbilical cord - membranous duct connecting the fetus with the placenta