Embryo Meaning
/ˈɛmbɹi.əʊ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounIn the reproductive cycle, the stage after the fertilization of the egg that precedes the development into a fetus.
nounAn organism in the earlier stages of development before it emerges from the egg, or before metamorphosis.
Sentence Examples
The point at which an embryo becomes a fetus has apparently been chosen arbitrarily.
A developing embryo connects to the placenta via the umbilical cord.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Biologists observed the ____ of the zebrafish under a powerful microscope.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A tiny ____ begins to develop into a baby during pregnancy.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Medieval Latin embryō, from Ancient Greek ἔμβρυον (émbruon, “fetus”), from ἐν (en, “in-”) + βρύω (brúō, “to grow, swell”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"SE onset depends on a complex network of interactions among plant growth regulators, mainly auxins and cytokinins, during the proembryogenic early stages, and ethylene and gibberellic and abscisic acids later in the development of somatic embryos."
— 2015 August 18, Clelia De-la-Peña et al., “The role of chromatin modifications in somatic embryogenesis in plants”, in Frontiers in Plant Science, volume 6, →DOI:
"In situ hybridisations were performed on devitellinised embryos still wrapped around the yolk and on embryos with the yolk dissected away."
— 2015 December 4, “Divergent RNA Localisation Patterns of Maternal Genes Regulating Embryonic Patterning in the Butterfly Pararge aegeria”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
"Though scientists do not know how stress affects gestation, Fukuda theorizes that the vulnerability of Y-bearing sperm cells, male embryos and/or male fetuses to stress is why “subtle significant changes in sex ratios” occur."
— 2019 January 23, Susan Scutti, “Climate change will affect gender ratio among newborns, scientists say”, in CNN:
"They include cells that would typically go on to develop a yolk sac, a placenta and the embryo itself."
— 2023 June 14, Brenda Goodman, “Scientists report creation of first human synthetic model embryos”, in CNN:
"[…]while the Company little ſuſpected what a noble Work I had then in Embryo […]"
— 1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Introduction to the Following Treatise”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page lxxviii:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
Biologists observed the ____ of the zebrafish under a powerful microscope.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A tiny ____ begins to develop into a baby during pregnancy.