Word Study
embryo
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun embryo has 2 senses
- embryo(n = noun.plant) Array - (botany) a minute rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an archegonium; Array is a kind of flora, plant, plant life
- embryo(n = noun.animal) conceptus, fertilized egg - an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life; Array is a kind of animal, animate being, beast, brute, creature, fauna
has particulars: blastosphere, blastula, gastrula, morula
has parts: umbilical, umbilical cord
Derived forms adjective embryonal1, adjective embryonic2, adjective embryonic1, adjective embryotic1
CIDE DICTIONARY
embryo, n. [F. embryon, Gr. 'e`mbryon, perh. fr. in (akin to L. E. in) + to be full of, swell with; perh. akin to E. brew.].
The first rudiments of an organism, whether animal or plant [1913 Webster]
embryo, a.
Pertaining to an embryo; rudimentary; undeveloped; as, an embryo bud. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
embryo, n. (pl. -os)
1 a an unborn or unhatched offspring. b a human offspring in the first eight weeks from conception.
2 a rudimentary plant contained in a seed.
3 a thing in a rudimentary stage.
4 (attrib.) undeveloped, immature.
1 a an unborn or unhatched offspring. b a human offspring in the first eight weeks from conception.
2 a rudimentary plant contained in a seed.
3 a thing in a rudimentary stage.
4 (attrib.) undeveloped, immature.
Idiom
in embryo undeveloped.
Derivative
embryoid adj. embryonal adj. embryonic adj. embryonically adv.
Etymology
LL embryo -onis f. Gk embruon foetus (as EN-(2), bruo swell, grow)
ROGET THESAURUS
embryo
Cause
N cause, origin, source, principle, element, occasioner, prime mover, primum mobile, vera causa, author, mainspring, agent, leaven, groundwork, foundation, spring, fountain, well, font, fountainhead, spring head, wellhead, fons et origo, genesis, descent, remote cause, influence, pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum, key, proximate cause, causa causans, straw that breaks the camel's back, ground, reason, reason why, why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation, final cause, les dessous des cartes, undercurrents, rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm, nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed, causality, causation, origination, production, caused, causal, original, primary, primitive, primordial, aboriginal, protogenal, radical, embryonic, embryotic, in embryo, in ovo, seminal, germinal, at the bottom of, connate, having a common origin, because, behind the scenes, causa latet vis est notissima, felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.
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