antheridium

[ an-thuh-rid-ee-uhm ]

noun

, Botany, Mycology.

, plural an·ther·id·i·a [an-th, uh, -, rid, -ee-, uh].

1. a male reproductive structure producing gametes, occurring in ferns, mosses, fungi, and algae.

antheridium

/ ˌænθəˈrɪdɪəm /

noun

1. the male sex organ of algae, fungi, bryophytes, and spore-bearing vascular plants, such as ferns, which produces antherozoids

antheridium

/ ăn′thə-rĭd′ē-əm /

, Plural antheridia ăn′thə-rĭd′ē-ə

1. An organ in certain organisms that produces male gametes. Antheridia are found in many groups of organisms, including the bryophytes, ferns, ascomycete fungi, and some algae. Most gymnosperms and all angiosperms, however, have lost the antheridium, and its role is filled by the pollen grain.
2. Compare archegonium

Derived Forms

• ˌantherˈidial, adjective

Other Words From

• anther·idi·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of antheridium¹

From New Latin, dating back to 1850–55; anther, -idium

Word History and Origins

Origin of antheridium¹

C19: from New Latin, diminutive of anthēra anther

Example Sentences

The sperm need all the help they can get in moving toward the egg, seldom travelling more than four inches from the structure called an antheridium that produced them.

From Scientific American

Thallus decumbent, irregularly lobed, 1–2´ long, 3–5´´ wide; involucre none; pedicel ¾–1´ long, sometimes folded upon itself and remaining within the calyptra, the capsule thus appearing sessile; antheridia on elongated receptacles.—Wooded swamps.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the mobile male reproductive bodies in the antheridia of cryptograms.

From Project Gutenberg

The endochrome is believed to be fertilized by bodies developed in antheridia, the contents of each fertilized cell dividing into four ovate zoospores.

From Project Gutenberg

The ordinary mycelium is the gametophyte since it bears the ascogonia and antheridia when present; the ascogenous hyphae with their asci represent the sporophyte since they are derived from the fertilized ascogonium.

From Project Gutenberg