embryo

1 of 2

noun

em·​bryo ˈem-brē-ˌō 

plural embryos

1

a

: an animal in the early stages of growth and differentiation that are characterized by cleavage, the laying down of fundamental tissues, and the formation of primitive organs and organ systems

especially : the developing human individual from the time of implantation to the end of the eighth week after conception

b

archaic : a vertebrate at any stage of development prior to birth or hatching

2

: the young sporophyte of a seed plant usually comprising a rudimentary plant with plumule, radicle, and cotyledons

3

a

: something as yet undeveloped

b

: a beginning or undeveloped state of something

productions seen in embryo during their out-of-town tryout period

—Henry Hewes

embryo-

2 of 2

combining form

: embryo

embryogeny

Examples of embryo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Alabama top court issued the controversial ruling that frozen embryos are children in February – a first for the United States. —Brammhi Balarajan, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024

One opponent, an evangelical nonprofit called Liberty Counsel, pointed to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that determined frozen embryos used for in vitro fertilization were people under Alabama’s Constitution. —Romy Ellenbogen, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2024

Key Background Alabama’s Supreme Court in February ruled that embryos used in the IVF process are essentially children, protected under the state’s wrongful death law. —Sara Dorn, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024

About 24 hours later, the patient typically takes a four-pill dose of misoprostol to prompt contractions that expel the embryo or fetus. —Caroline Kitchener, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2024

Kelly's strategy was duplicated in Alabama after the state's Supreme Court there sparked a national debate over in vitro fertilization with a February decision that said frozen embryos were children under state law. —Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 21 Mar. 2024

Whether human embryos are human beings is a question resolved by human embryology and developmental biology. —Robert P. George, National Review, 18 Mar. 2024

The Alabama state Supreme Court ruled last month that embryos used in IVF are children and are entitled to legal protections under the state’s wrongful death law. —Ken Tran, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2024

The law notably sidesteps the legal issue of whether or not embryos are legally minor children. —Alexandra Chaidez, NBC News, 9 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English embrioun "embryo, fetus," borrowed from Medieval Latin embrion-, embrio, embryo, borrowed from Greek émbryon "newborn creature (in reference to a lamb), young, embryo or fetus," from em- em- + -bryon, derivative of bry-, stem of brýein "to swell with an abundance of growth, bloom, abound," of obscure origin

Note: In Medieval Latin the Greek neuter noun émbryon was reanalyzed as the base of Latin nasal stems (such as sermōn-, sermō "speech"), resulting in the nominative singular form embryo, which was borrowed into English. The stem embryon- was employed in New Latin derivatives, the sources of embryonal and embryonic. Compare bryo-.

Combining form

Late Latin, from Greek, from embryon

First Known Use

Noun

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing embryo

• embryo sac
• embryo transfer
• in embryo

Kids Definition

embryo

noun

em·​bryo ˈem-brē-ˌō 

plural embryos

1

: an animal in the early stages of development that are marked by cleavage, the laying down of the basic tissues, and the formation of primitive organs and organ systems compare fetus

2

: a tiny young plant within a seed

3

: a beginning or undeveloped stage

—used especially in the phrase in embryo

Medical Definition

embryo

noun

em·​bryo ˈem-brē-ˌō 

plural embryos

1

archaic : a vertebrate at any stage of development prior to birth or hatching

2

: an animal in the early stages of growth and differentiation that are characterized by cleavage, the laying down of fundamental tissues, and the formation of primitive organs and organ systems

especially : the developing human individual from the time of implantation to the end of the eighth week after conception compare fetus