embryo Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (botany) a minute rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an archegonium
  2. noun an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life
    conceptus; fertilized egg.

WordNet


Em"bry*o noun
Etymology
F. embryon, Gr. , perh. fr. in (akin to L. E. in) + to be full of, swell with; perh. akin to E. brew.
Wordforms
plural Embryos
Definitions
  1. (Biol.) The first rudiments of an organism, whether animal or plant; as: (a) The young of an animal in the womb, or more specifically, before its parts are developed and it becomes a fetus (see Fetus). (b) The germ of the plant, which is inclosed in the seed and which is developed by germination. Swift.
Em"bry*o adjective
Definitions
  1. Pertaining to an embryo; rudimentary; undeveloped; as, an embryo bud.

Webster 1913