gamete

noun

gam·​ete ˈga-ˌmēt 

also

gə-ˈmēt 

: a mature male or female germ cell usually possessing a haploid chromosome set and capable of initiating formation of a new diploid individual by fusion with a gamete of the opposite sex

gametic

gə-ˈme-tik  -ˈmē- 

adjective

gametically

gə-ˈme-ti-k(ə-)lē 

-ˈmē-

adverb

Examples of gamete in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Early plants, for example, still needed to let their gametes swim to each other in standing water. —Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

If Fisch’s data are any indication, New York men produce more of the wiggly gametes than most. —Mary Roach, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

The law anticipated regulations around surrogacy and gamete donation, but nothing is said about regulating intermediaries like agencies—presumably because there weren’t supposed to be any. —Hazlitt, 30 Aug. 2023

But not all gametes are the same; for reasons that still remain somewhat of a mystery, one parent donates a much larger gamete, the egg, while the other donates only essential genetic material in the form of sperm. —Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 12 June 2015

DuBose also sponsored a bill that would have put specific gender definitions in state law, based on the presence of gametes. —Alander Rocha, al, 6 June 2023

Gametes and gamete production physiology, by themselves, are only a part of the entirety of human lives. —Agustín Fuentes, Scientific American, 1 May 2023

The animal kingdom does not limit itself to only one biological binary regarding how a species makes gametes. —Agustín Fuentes, Scientific American, 1 May 2023

Telfer notes that in her own work, which relies on natural precursors to human egg and sperm cells, successfully growing mature gametes remains difficult. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 15 Mar. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Gamet, borrowed from Greek gamétēs "husband" or gametḗ "wife," from game-, stem of gameîn "to marry" + -tēs, -tē, agent suffixes — more at -gamous

Note: Gamet was introduced by the Polish-German biologist Eduard Strasburger (1844-1912) in an article cowritten with the botanist Anton de Bary, "Acetabularia mediterranea" (Botanische Zeitung, 35. Jahrgang, No. 47, 23. November 1877), pp. 745-56.

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gamete

• gamete intrafallopian transfer

• gamete intrafallopian transfer

Kids Definition

gamete

noun

ga·​mete

gə-ˈmēt,

ˈgam-ˌēt

: a mature sex cell that usually has half of the normal number of chromosomes and is capable of uniting with a gamete of the opposite sex to begin the formation of a new individual

gametic

gə-ˈmet-ik

adjective

gametically

-ˈmet-i-k(ə-)lē

adverb

Medical Definition

gamete

noun

ga·​mete

ˈgam-ˌēt also gə-ˈmēt

: a mature male or female germ cell usually possessing a haploid chromosome set and capable of initiating formation of a new diploid individual by fusion with a gamete of the opposite sex

called also sex cell

gametic

gə-ˈmet-ik  -ˈmēt- 

adjective

gametically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb