ETYM Old Eng., from Icel. egg; akin to AS. aeg (whence Old Eng. ey), Swed. ägg, Dan. aeg, German and Dutch ei, and prob. to Old Slav. aje, jaje, Latin ovum, Greek eon.
In animals, the ovum, or female gamete (reproductive cell).
After fertilization by a sperm cell, it begins to divide to form an embryo. Eggs may be deposited by the female (ovipary) or they may develop within her body (vivipary and ovovivipary). In the oviparous reptiles and birds, the egg is protected by a shell, and well supplied with nutrients in the form of yolk.
1. Animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes; esp. the thin-shelled reproductive body laid by e.g. female birds.
2. Oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food; SYN. eggs. + prikaži više

ETYM Dim. of Latin ovum an egg: cf. French ovule. Related to Ovolo, Ovulum.
Structure found in seed plants that develops into a seed after fertilization. It consists of an embryo sac containing the female gamete (ovum or egg cell), surrounded by nutritive tissue, the nucellus. Outside this there are one or two coverings that provide protection, developing into the testa, or seed coat, following fertilization.
In angiosperms (flowering plants) the ovule is within an ovary, but in gymnosperms (conifers and their allies) the ovules are borne on the surface of an ovuliferous (ovule-bearing) scale, usually within a cone, and are not enclosed by an ovary.
A small body that contains the female germ cell of a plant; develops into a seed after fertilization. + prikaži više