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Glite Dictionary
polyspermic

polyspermic

1 9.9
An egg that receives more than one sperm
  • adjective
  • /ˌpɒliˈspɜːrmɪk/
  • Specialized
: polispermico
  • In studies, they discovered that polyspermic fertilization can lead to serious developmental issues.

Examples

  • The biologist explained that a polyspermic egg cannot develop into a viable embryo.

  • A polyspermic condition occurs when an egg is fertilized by multiple sperm cells simultaneously.

  • There had been no polyspermic fertilization, in which more than one sperm penetrates the egg.

    Fiction book (1991)

Surface Forms

polyspermic positive

Morphology

polyspermic = polyspermy (transparent) = poly + sperm + ic

The adjective is formed in the usual scientific way from the noun 'polyspermy' by adding '-ic'.

Etymology

The word polyspermic comes from the Greek parts poly- meaning 'many' (as in polygon) and sperma meaning 'seed' or 'sperm'. So polyspermic describes an egg that has been fertilized by 'many sperm', which is exactly why scientists use it for eggs with more than one sperm.