ovule

noun

ˈä-(ˌ)vyül  ˈō- 

plural ovules

1

: a structure of a seed plant that gives rise to female reproductive cells and is found within the floral ovaries of angiosperms or are borne on female strobili of gymnosperms

Note: In flowering plants the ovule consists of a protective outer integument and an inner nucellus enclosing the embryo sac

When the pollen tube enters an ovule within the ovary, one of the two sperm cells it carries fuses with the egg, producing a diploid zygote …

—David L. Mulcahy et al.

Female cones contain ovules, or early-stage eggs, at the base of each of their scales. When pollen from the male cones, brought by insects or the wind, reaches these ovules, they develop into seeds.

—Laetitia Sands

2

: a small egg

especially : one in an early stage of growth

An appropriate connection of the cells in the ovary follicles is vital for a healthy ovule maturation and fertilization … .

—Navid Shomali

Examples of ovule in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The probability of one pollen grain landing in the right location – the stigma or ovule of another plant of the same species – is infinitesimally small. —Christine Cairns Fortuin, The Conversation, 5 May 2025

Once pollen is transported to the ovary, an ovule is fertilized. —Dezimey Kum, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2022

Unless all the ovules are pollinated evenly, berries are misshapen and seeds are different sizes. —Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 27 June 2019

This means that a flower has as many as 500 ovules that need to be pollinated to make a single berry. —Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 27 June 2019

Scientists diagnose a mysterious blockage in the flowers that keeps the sperm cells in the pollen from reaching the ovule. —Richard Conniff, WSJ, 13 Apr. 2018

Fig wasps deposit pollen—and lay their own eggs—in the fig’s egg-bearing ovules. —National Geographic, 29 Sep. 2016

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin ōvulum, diminutive of Latin ovum "egg" — more at egg entry 1

First Known Use

1762, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

ovule

noun

ˈäv-(ˌ)yü(ə)l  ˈōv- 

1

: an outgrowth of the ovary of a seed plant that after fertilization develops into a seed

2

: a small egg

especially : one in an early stage of growth

Medical Definition

ovule

noun

ˈäv-(ˌ)yü(ə)l 

also

ˈōv- 

1

: a small egg

especially : one in an early stage of growth

The mature ovule secretes large amounts of progesterone and less estradiol leading to the luteal phase of the ovarian cycle.

—T. Corona et al., Women and Multiple Sclerosis

During the first half of the menstrual cycle an ovule in the ovarian follicles matures and the concentration of oestrogen hormones in the body increases.

—Larisa Shakhlina, IAAF New Studies in Athletics

2

: a female reproductive plant structure that develops into a seed after fertilization

Ovules are the precursors to seeds and as such are critical to plant propagation and food production.

—Charles S. Gasser and Debra J. Skinner, Current Topics in Developmental Biology

ovular

-yə-lər 

adjective