small, more or less ovoid head, with a delicate threadlike cilium, or tail. Called also spermatozoön. In
plants the more usual term is antherozoid.
Spermatozooid
(Sper`ma*to*zo"oid) n. (Biol.) A spermatozoid.
Spermatozoön
(||Sper`ma*to*zo"ön) n.; pl. Spermatozoa [NL., fr. Gr. sperm + an animal.] (Biol.) Same
as Spermatozoid.
Spermic
(Sper"mic) a. Of or pertaining to sperm, or semen.
Spermidium
(||Sper*mid"i*um) n.; pl. Spermidia [Nl., fr. Gr. spe`rma seed.] (Bot.) An achenium.
Spermist
(Sperm"ist) n. (Biol.) A believer in the doctrine, formerly current, of encasement in the male
in which the seminal thread, or spermatozoid, was considered as the real animal germ, the head being
the true animal head and the tail the body.
Spermoblast
(Sper"mo*blast) n. [Spermo- + -blast.] (Physiol.) One of the cells formed by the division
of the spermospore, each of which is destined to become a spermatozoid; a spermatocyte; a spermatoblast.
Spermococcus
(||Sper`mo*coc"cus) n. [NL. See Spermo-, and Coccus.] (Physiol.) The nucleus of
the sperm cell.
Spermoderm
(Sper"mo*derm) n. [Spermo- + derm: cf. F. spermoderme.] (Bot.) The covering of a
seed; — sometimes limited to the outer coat or testa. Lindley.
Spermogonium
(||Sper`mo*go"ni*um) n. [NL.; spermo- + Gr. offspring.] (Bot.) A conceptacle of certain
lichens, which contains spermatia.
Spermologist
(Sper*mol"o*gist) n. [Gr. picking up seeds; spe`rma sperm, seed + to gather.] One who
treats of, or collects, seeds. Bailey.
Spermophile
(Sper"mo*phile) n. [Gr. spe`rma a seed + fi`los loving, fond.] (Zoöl.) Any ground squirrel
of the genus Spermophilus; a gopher. See Illust. under Gopher.
Spermophore
(Sper"mo*phore) n. (Zoöl.) A spermatophore.
Spermophyta
(||Sper*moph"y*ta) n. pl. [Nl., from Gr. spe`rma a seed + fyto`n a plant.] Plants which
produce seed; phænogamia. These plants constitute the highest grand division of the vegetable kingdom.
Spermophyte
(Sper"mo*phyte) n. (Bot.) Any plant which produces true seeds; — a term recently proposed
to replace phænogam.
Spermophytic
(Sper`mo*phyt"ic) a. (Bot.) Capable of producing seeds; phænogamic.
Spermoplasma
(||Sper`mo*plas"ma) n. [NL. See Spermo-, and Plasma.] (Physiol.) The protoplasm
of the sperm cell. Haeckel.
Spermosphere
(Sper"mo*sphere) n. [Spermo- + sphere.] (Physiol.) A mass or ball of cells formed by
the repeated division of a male germinal cell each constituent cell (spermoblast) of which is converted
into a spermatozoid; a spermatogemma.
Spermospore
(Sper"mo*spore) n. [Spermo- + spore.] (Physiol.) The male germinal or seminal cell,
from the breaking up of which the spermoblasts are formed and ultimately the spermatozoids; a spermatospore.
Balfour.
Spermule
(Sper"mule) n. [Dim. fr. sperm.] (Physiol.) A sperm cell. Haeckel.
