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.

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.

ETYM Latin, an egg. Related to Oval.
(Irregular plural: ova).
The female reproductive cell; the female gamete; SYN. egg cell.
Female's germ-cell from which, after fertilization, embryo develops. Female gamete (sex cell) before fertilization. In animals it is called an egg, and is produced in the ovaries. In plants, where it is also known as an egg cell or oosphere, the ovum is produced in an ovule. The ovum is nonmotile. It must be fertilized by a male gamete before it can develop further, except in cases of parthenogenesis.