ZYGOTE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does zygote mean? 

• ZYGOTE (noun)
  The noun ZYGOTE has 1 sense:

1. (genetics) the diploid cell resulting from the union of a haploid spermatozoon and ovum (including the organism that develops from that cell)

  Familiarity information: ZYGOTE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ZYGOTE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(genetics) the diploid cell resulting from the union of a haploid spermatozoon and ovum (including the organism that develops from that cell)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

fertilized ovum; zygote

Hypernyms ("zygote" is a kind of...):

cell ((biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals)

Domain category:

being; organism (a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently)

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "zygote"):

heterozygote ((genetics) an organism having two different alleles of a particular gene and so giving rise to varying offspring)

homozygote ((genetics) an organism having two identical alleles of a particular gene and so breeding true for the particular characteristic)

Derivation:

zygotic (of or relating to a zygote)

 Context examples 

An individual containing two or more populations of genetically different cells that arose from a single zygote.

(Mosaic, NCI Thesaurus)

The study of how a multicellular organism develops from its early immature forms (e.g., zygote, larva, embryo) into an adult.

(Developmental Biology, NCI Thesaurus)

Fertilization of an ovum by a spermatozoon resulting in formation of a viable zygote.

(Conception, NCI Thesaurus)

A term used to describe collectively a number of noncoital methods of conception that are used to treat infertility with donor or nondonor eggs and sperm including in vitro fertilization (IVF), gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), and zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT).

(Assisted Reproductive Technology, NCI Dictionary)