embryology

American  

[em-bree-ol-uh-jee] / ˌɛm briˈɒl ə dʒi /

noun

plural

embryologies

1. the science dealing with the formation, development, structure, and functional activities of embryos.

2. the origin, growth, and development of an embryo.

   the embryology of the chick.

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embryology British  

/ ˌɛmbrɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl, ˌɛmbrɪˈɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the branch of science concerned with the study of embryos

2. the structure and development of the embryo of a particular organism

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embryology Scientific  

/ ĕm′brē-ŏl′ə-jē /

1. The scientific study of embryos and their development.

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embryology Cultural  

1. The study of the embryo; a major field of research in modern biology.

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Other Word Forms

• embryologic adjective
• embryological adjective
• embryologically adverb
• embryologist noun

Etymology

Origin of embryology

First recorded in 1840–50; embryo- + -logy

Example Sentences

According to the report, the embryology laboratory at Al-Basma was hit in early December 2023, reportedly destroying around 4,000 embryos as well as 1,000 sperm samples and unfertilised eggs.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2025

To detect whether these shapes came from an ancestral bat wing or evolved independently, Sears and her colleagues investigated the embryology of different bat species and the genes responsible for the tissue's development.

From Scientific American • Oct. 1, 2023

Also named in the suit are In VitroTech Labs, a third-party embryology center, and its parent company, Beverly Sunset Surgical Associates, both owned by Mor.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2021

In December 2016, the MBL announced that he would co-direct its embryology summer course.

From Nature • Feb. 23, 2020

Scientists studying living organisms were far more preoccupied with other matters: embryology, cell biology, the origin of species, and evolution.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee