spermatozoon

See also: spermatozoön

English

Spermatozoa

Alternative forms

• spermatozoön, spermatozoan

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “sperm”) +‎ ζῷον (zôion, “living thing”), equivalent to spermato- +‎ -zoon.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

spermatozoon (plural spermatozoa)

1. (cytology) A reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.
   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 339:

     But let us suppose [...] that one hardy or lucky spermatozoon has reached the waiting egg.

   • 2024 June 11, Dr. Steve Chapman, “Is swallowing semen good for you?”, in Better2Know‎^[1]:

     A sperm, or spermatozoa, is the microscopic male reproductive cell. Sperms are made up of oval-shaped heads and long tails that they use for mobility.

Synonyms

• sperm cell
• zoosperm

Hypernyms

• gamete

Coordinate terms

• ovum

Derived terms

• spermatozoal
• spermatozoic

Translations

reproductive cell of the male

• Armenian: սպերմատոզոիդ (hy) (spermatozoid), սերմնաբջիջ (hy) (sermnabǰiǰ)
• Azerbaijani: spermatozoid
• Bulgarian: сперматозоид m (spermatozoid)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 精子 (zh) (jīngzǐ)

• Danish: sædcelle (da) c, spermatozo (da) c
• Esperanto: spermatozoo
• Finnish: siittiö (fi)
• French: spermatozoïde (fr) m
• German: Spermium (de) n, Samenzelle (de)
• Greek: σπερματοζωάριο (el) n (spermatozoário)
• Hindi: शुक्राणु m (śukrāṇu)
• Hungarian: hímivarsejt (hu), ondósejt (hu), spermium (hu)
• Icelandic: sæðisfruma f, sáð n, sáðfruma f
• Irish: speirmiteasón m
• Italian: spermatozoo (it) m
• Japanese: 精子 (ja) (せいし, seishi)
• Korean: 정자(精子) (ko) (jeongja)
• Lithuanian: spermatozoidas m
• Macedonian: сперматозои́д m (spermatozoíd)
• Maori: tao tātea
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spermie m, sædcelle m or f

  Nynorsk: spermie m or n, sædcelle f

• Persian: اسپرماتوزئید (espermâtozo'id)
• Polish: plemnik (pl) m, spermatozoid (pl) m
• Portuguese: espermatozoide (pt) m
• Romanian: spermatozoid (ro) m
• Russian: сперматозо́ид (ru) m (spermatozóid)
• Scottish Gaelic: cealla-sìl f
• Sicilian: spirmatuzzuu m
• Slovak: spermia f
• Spanish: espermatozoide (es) m
• Swedish: spermie (sv) c, sädescell (sv) c, spermatozo c
• Vietnamese: tinh trùng (vi)

Esperanto

Noun

spermatozoon

1. accusative singular of spermatozoo