germinal vesicle

American  

noun

Embryology.

1. the large, vesicular nucleus of an ovum before the polar bodies are formed.

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germinal vesicle British  

noun

1. biology the large nucleus of an oocyte before it develops into an ovum

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Etymology

Origin of germinal vesicle

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Either the ovum was a cell and the germinal vesicle its nucleus, or else the germinal vesicle was itself a cell within the larger cell of the ovum and the germinal spot was its nucleus.

From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

This embryo is the product of fertilization of a germinal vesicle by a pollen tube.

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

The protoplasm of the ovum, except at that part of the surface where the germinal vesicle lies, is packed with a great amount of food material, the yolk granules.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

In case of horns of cattle, which when inherited must depend on germinal vesicle, obviously no effect till cattle full-grown.

From The Foundations of the Origin of Species Two Essays written in 1842 and 1844 by Darwin, Francis, Sir

This germinal vesicle divides, and one moiety is budded off from the ovum.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)