archegonium

American  

[ahr-ki-goh-nee-uhm] / ˌɑr kɪˈgoʊ ni əm /

noun

Botany.

plural

archegonia

1. the female reproductive organ in ferns, mosses, etc.

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archegonium British  

/ ˌɑːkɪˈɡəʊnɪəm /

noun

1. a female sex organ, occurring in mosses, spore-bearing vascular plants, and gymnosperms, that produces a single egg cell in its swollen base

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archegonium Scientific  

/ är′kĭ-gō′nē-əm /

plural

archegonia

1. The egg-producing organ occurring in bryophytes (such as mosses and liverworts), ferns, and most gymnosperms. The archegonium is a multicellular, often flask-shaped structure that contains a single egg.

2. Compare antheridium

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Other Word Forms

• archegonial adjective
• archegoniate adjective

Etymology

Origin of archegonium

1850–55; < New Latin, equivalent to archegon- (< Greek archégonos first of a race; see arche-, gono-) + -ium < Greek -ion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

The zygote, protected by the archegonium, divides and grows into a sporophyte, still attached by its foot to the gametophyte.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The female gametophyte is contained within a structure called the archegonium.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

At fertilization, the sperm swims down the neck to the venter and unites with the egg inside the archegonium.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The embryo develops inside the archegonium as the sporophyte.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

The sexual generation is a small green thalloid structure called a prothallium, which bears antheridia and archegonia, each archegonium having a neck-canal and oosphere, which is fertilized just as in the moss.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various