Lexic.us

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Spermatozoa

1. spermatozoon [n] - See also: spermatozoon

Medical Definition of Spermatozoa

1. Mature male germ cells, the specific output of the testes. The spermatozoon is the generative element of the semen and serves to fertilise the ovum. It consists of a head (or nucleus), a neck, a middle piece, and a tail with an end piece. Spermatzoa, formed in the seminiferous tubules, are derived from spermatogonia, which first develop into spermatocytes, which, in turn, undergo meiosis to produce spermatids; the spermatids then differentiate into spermatozoa. (12 Dec 1998)

Literary usage of Spermatozoa

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Report of the Annual Meeting (1856)
"The first part of this paper treated of the effects of various reagents on the vitality and movements of the spermatozoa. From a great many observations and ..."

2. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science edited by Biologists Limited, The Company of. (1881)
"THE following observations on the development of the spermatozoa in Rana and Helix were made as sequels to a paper published in this Journal " On the ..."

3. Elements of Physiology by Joh. Müller (1843)
"Th« spermatozoa which were discovered by a student at Leyden, named Harn, ... The spermatozoa of the human subject measure, according to Wagner, ..."

4. On the theory and practice of midwifery by Fleetwood Churchill, David Francis Condie (1862)
"It is now almost universally admitted that it is the spermatozoa alone which ... Within the cells the spermatozoa are in the form of filaments arranged in ..."

5. The Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man by Robert Bentley Todd, William Bowman (1857)
"The contained spermatozoa are at last set free by the rupture of the parent cell, and then separate. These changes are usually not completed until the cells ..."

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