sperm
English
Etymology
From Middle English sperme, from Latin sperma, from Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “seed, semen”). Compare also Old French esperme, sparme.
Pronunciation
Noun
sperm (countable and uncountable, plural sperm or sperms)
- (countable) The reproductive cell or gamete of the male; a spermatozoon.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 80:
- In the Fall into the division of labor, Levi-Strauss sees the great hunters trading women to create the exogamous bonds of one hunting band with another. The egg is, but the sperm does. The tiny sperm may be furious in its activity, but its highway to the egg is paved by the alkaline trail set down by the Great Mother.
- 2012, Sarah Whitehouse, The Guardian, 13 Apr 2012:
- Seeing the two little moving cells – the result of her egg and Luke's sperm – was incredible, and two very long weeks later the clinic confirmed I was pregnant.
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- (uncountable, slang) Semen; the generative substance of male animals.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- Other Nations there are, that never have use of fire; Others, whose sperme is of a blacke colour.
-
- (chemistry) Sperm oil; whale oil from a sperm whale; spermaceti.
Synonyms
- (generative substance): cum (vulgar slang), semen
- (reproductive cell): spermatozoon, sperm cell
- (of fish): milt
- (figurative): seed
Hypernyms
- (reproductive cell): gamete
Derived terms
Derived terms
- angiosperm
- asthenospermic
- endosperm
- gymnosperm
- gymnospermous
- monospermy
- monospermous
- perisperm
- polyspermy
- polyspermic
- polyspermous
- spermalege
- sperm ampulla
- spermary
- spermatheca
- spermatic
- spermatid
- spermatocyte
- spermatogenesis
- spermatogenetic
- spermatogenous
- spermatogonium
- spermatoid
- spermatophyte, spermophyte
- spermatorrhea, spermatorrhoea
- spermatozoal
- spermatozoon
- sperm cell
- sperm count
- spermicidal
- spermicide
- spermidine
- spermine
- spermiogenesis
- spermogonium, spermagonium
- spermophile
- spermous
- sperm whale
- zoosperm
Translations
cell
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semen (fluid)
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sperm oil, spermaceti
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma) (sense 1).
Noun
sperm m (definite singular spermen, uncountable)
- sperm
- short for spermasett (spermaceti); see spermhval.
Related terms
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