oocyte

[ oh-uh-sahyt ]

noun

, Cell Biology.

1. an immature egg cell of the animal ovary; in humans, one oocyte matures during the menstrual cycle, becoming an ootid and then an ovum, while several others partially mature and then disintegrate.

oocyte

/ ˈəʊəˌsaɪt /

noun

1. an immature female germ cell that gives rise to an ovum after two meiotic divisions

oocyte

/ ō′ə-sīt′ /

1. A diploid cell that undergoes meiosis to form eggs.

Word History and Origins

Origin of oocyte¹

First recorded in 1890–95; oo- + -cyte

Example Sentences

My dog Stewie and I were in seat 8D, while 12 of my cryopreserved oocytes, four straws of three eggs each, had a window seat further back.

From MIT Technology Review

We—my dog Stewie and I—were in seat 8D, while 12 of my cryopreserved oocytes, four straws of three eggs each, had a window seat further back.

From MIT Technology Review

Cells that harbored the chromosome change were then injected into oocytes—egg cells.

From Singularity Hub 

In a report in the journal Science, published in July, his team reported “the reconstitution of functional follicle structures that are fully capable of supporting oocyte production.”

From MIT Technology Review

Take primordial oocytes, cells in the ovaries that can lie dormant for decades before maturing into an egg.

From Quanta Magazine