: an early metazoan embryo typically having the form of a hollow fluid-filled rounded cavity bounded by a single layer of cells compare gastrula, morula
Recent Examples on the WebThe cells are stem cells that can be used as regenerative medicine treatments in the person from whom the blastula or blastocyst was made.—David Warmflash, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2016 The new egg cell can be triggered to act as a fertilized egg, producing a blastula whose cells are clones of the donor of the nucleus.—David Warmflash, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2016
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blastula.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin (in a German context), from Greek blastós "shoot, bud, embryo" + New Latin -ula (as in gastrula, planula) — more at -blast
Note:
Term apparently introduced by the Russian zoologist and embryologist Vladimir Vladimirovič Zalenskij ("W. Salensky," 1847-1918) in "Bemerkungen über Haeckel's Gastraea-Theorie," Archiv für Naturgeschichte, 40. Jahrgang, 1. Band (1874), p. 162.
: an early metazoan embryo typically having the form of a hollow fluid-filled rounded cavity bounded by a single layer of cells compare gastrula, morula
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