sperm

English

Etymology

From Middle English sperme, from Latin sperma, from Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “seed, semen”). Compare also Old French esperme, sparme.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /spɜɹm/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /spɜːm/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m
• Hyphenation: sperm

Noun

sperm (countable and uncountable, plural sperm or sperms)

2. (countable) The reproductive cell or gamete of the male; a spermatozoon.
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 80:

     In the Fall into the division of labor, Levi-Strauss sees the great hunters trading women to create the exogamous bonds of one hunting band with another. The egg is, but the sperm does. The tiny sperm may be furious in its activity, but its highway to the egg is paved by the alkaline trail set down by the Great Mother.

   • 2012 April 13, Sarah Whitehouse, The Guardian:

     Seeing the two little moving cells – the result of her egg and Luke's sperm – was incredible, and two very long weeks later the clinic confirmed I was pregnant.

3. (uncountable, slang) Semen; the generative substance of male animals.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     Other Nations there are, that never have use of fire; Others, whose sperme is of a blacke colour.

4. (chemistry) Sperm oil; whale oil from a sperm whale; spermaceti.

Synonyms

• (generative substance): cum (vulgar slang), semen
• (reproductive cell): spermatozoon, sperm cell
• (of fish): milt
• (figurative): seed

Hypernyms

• (reproductive cell): gamete

Derived terms

• angiosperm
• asthenospermic
• endosperm
• gymnosperm
• gymnospermous
• monospermous
• monospermy
• perisperm
• polyspermic
• polyspermous
• polyspermy
• spermalege
• sperm ampulla
• spermary
• spermatheca
• spermatic
• spermatid
• spermatocyte
• spermatogenesis
• spermatogenetic
• spermatogenous
• spermatogonium
• spermatoid
• spermatophyte, spermophyte
• spermatorrhea, spermatorrhoea
• spermatozoal
• spermatozoon
• sperm bank
• sperm blossom
• sperm-blossom
• sperm cell
• sperm count
• sperm donor
• spermhead
• spermicidal
• spermicide
• spermidine
• spermine
• spermiogenesis
• spermless
• spermlike
• sperm morula
• spermogonium, spermagonium
• spermophile
• spermous
• sperm sac
• sperm sack
• sperm whale
• spermy
• zoosperm

 

Translations

cell

• Arabic: نُطْفَة f (nuṭfa), حَيَوَان مَنَوِيّ (ar) m (ḥayawān manawiyy)

  Egyptian Arabic: حيوان منوي m (ḥayawan manawi)

• Armenian: սպերմատոզոիդ (hy) (spermatozoid), սերմնաբջիջ (hy) (sermnabǰiǰ)
• Bulgarian: сперматозоид m (spermatozoid)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 精子 (zh) (jīngzǐ)

• Czech: spermie (cs) f
• Danish: sæd (da) c
• Dutch: spermacel (nl)
• Esperanto: spermatozoo
• Estonian: seemnerakk
• Finnish: siittiö (fi)
• French: spermatozoïde (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Spermium (de) n, Samenzelle (de) f
• Greek: σπερματοζωάριο (el) n (spermatozoário)
• Hebrew: זרעון m (zir'on)
• Hindi: शुक्राणु m (śukrāṇu)
• Hungarian: hímivarsejt (hu), ondósejt (hu), spermium (hu)
• Icelandic: sæðisfruma f
• Italian: spermatozoo (it) m
• Japanese: 精子 (ja) (せいし, seishi)
• Kazakh: шауһат (şauhat)
• Khmer: មេជីវិតឈ្មោល (mei ciivɨt chmool)
• Korean: 정자(精子) (ko) (jeongja)
• Lao: ພັນ (phan)
• Malay: sperma (ms), benih, benih jantan
• Manx: sheel m
• Persian: اسپرماتوزئید (espermâtozo'id)
• Polish: plemnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: espermatozoide (pt) m
• Romanian: spermatozoid (ro) m
• Russian: сперматозо́ид (ru) m (spermatozóid)
• Slovak: spermia
• Spanish: espermatozoide (es) m
• Tagalog: punlay
• Thai: สเปิร์ม (sà-bpəəm), ตัวอสุจิ, อสุจิ (th) (à-sù-jì)
• Turkish: döl (tr)
• Turkmen: döl (tk)
• Vietnamese: tinh trùng (vi) (精蟲), (slang) tinh binh (vi) (精兵)
• Welsh: sberm (cy) m

semen (fluid)

• Albanian: spermë (sq) f
• Arabic: نُطْفَة f (nuṭfa), مَنْي m (many)
• Armenian: սերմ (hy) (serm), սերմնահեղուկ (hy) (sermnaheġuk), սպերմա (hy) (sperma)
• Azerbaijani: sperma, toxum (az), məni
• Bashkir: мәней (məney), аталыҡ орлоғо (atalıq orloğo)
• Belarusian: спе́рма f (spjérma)
• Bengali: শুক্রাণু (bn) (śukranu), বীর্য (bn) (birjo)
• Bikol Central: kasit (bcl)
• Bulgarian: спе́рма f (spérma)
• Burmese: သုက်ပိုး (sukpui:), သုက်ကောင် (sukkaung)
• Catalan: esperma (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 精液 (zing¹ jik⁶)

  Hokkien: 精液 (cheng-e̍k / cheng-ia̍k)

  Mandarin: 精液 (zh) (jīngyè)

• Czech: semeno (cs) n, sperma (cs) n
• Danish: sperm
• Dutch: sperma (nl) n
• Esperanto: spermo
• Estonian: sperma (et)
• Finnish: siemenneste (fi), sperma (fi)
• French: sperme (fr) m, semence (fr) f
• Georgian: სპერმა (sṗerma), თესლი (ka) (tesli)
• German: Sperma (de) n
• Greek: σπέρμα (el) n (spérma)
• Greenlandic: anisooq, peersaq
• Gujarati: વીર્ય (vīrya)
• Hebrew: זֶרַע (he) m (zéra‛)
• Hindi: शुक्राणु m (śukrāṇu), शुक्र (hi) m (śukra), वीर्य (hi) m (vīrya)
• Hungarian: sperma (hu), ondó (hu)
• Icelandic: sæði n
• Indonesian: sperma (id)
• Irish: speirm
• Italian: sperma (it) m
• Japanese: 精液 (ja) (せいえき, seieki)
• Kazakh: шәует (şäuet), сперма (sperma)
• Khmer: ទឹកកាម (km) (tɨk kaam), ទឹករាគ (tɨk riək), ទឹកក្អេក (tɨk kʼeek), កាវស (kaaw sɑɑ) (colloquial)
• Korean: 정액(精液) (ko) (jeong'aek)
• Kyrgyz: сперма (ky) (sperma), эрендик (ky) (erendik)
• Lao: ນ້ຳກາມ (nam kām), ນ້ຳແບ້ນ (nam bǣn), ອະສຸຈິ (ʼa su chi)
• Latin: sperma
• Latvian: sēkla (lv) f, sperma f
• Lithuanian: sperma f, sėkla (lt) f
• Macedonian: сперма f (sperma)
• Malay: sperma (ms)
• Maltese: isperma f
• Manx: sheel m
• Mongolian: дусал (mn) (dusal), салай (mn) (salaj)
• Norwegian: sperm m, sperma m, sæd m
• Old Czech: chám m
• Old High German: hīsamo
• Pashto: مني m (maní)
• Persian: نطفه (fa) (notfa), منی (fa) (moni) (vulgar)
• Polish: sperma (pl) f, nasienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: esperma (pt) m
• Romanian: spermă (ro) f, smecleu n, smârcău n, smahoz n
• Russian: спе́рма (ru) f (spérma), молофья́ (ru) f (molofʹjá) (vulgar)
• Sanskrit: शुक्र (sa) n (śukra), रेतस् (sa) n (retas)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сперма f

  Roman: sperma (sh) f

• Shan: ၼမ်ႉၸိူဝ်ႉ (nâ̰m tsô̰e)
• Slovak: sperma f
• Slovene: sperma (sl) f
• Spanish: esperma (es) m or f
• Swahili: mbegu za kiume
• Swedish: sperma (sv), sädesvätska (sv)
• Tagalog: tamod
• Tajik: нутфа (tg) (nutfa), манӣ (mani)
• Tamil: விந்து (ta) (vintu)
• Thai: สเปิร์ม (sà-bpəəm), อสุจิ (th) (à-sù-jì)
• Turkish: döl (tr), sperm (tr)
• Turkmen: sperma, döl (tk)
• Ukrainian: спе́рма f (spérma)
• Urdu: منی m (manī), نطفہ (nutfa)
• Uyghur: سپېرما (spërma), مەنى (meni)
• Uzbek: sperma (uz), maniy (uz)
• Vietnamese: tinh dịch (vi) (精液)
• Walloon: spieme (wa) m, floû (wa) m, simince (wa) f, verzin (wa) m

sperm oil, spermaceti

• Bulgarian: спермацет m (spermacet), китова мас f (kitova mas)
• Finnish: valaanöljy, spermaseettiöljy (oil); valaanrasve, valaanvaha, spermaseetti (spermaceti)
• Italian: spermaceti (it) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} сперма f (sperma)
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} liba f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} శుక్లము (te) (śuklamu)

Verb

sperm (third-person singular simple present sperms, present participle sperming, simple past and past participle spermed)

1. (intransitive, slang, vulgar) To ejaculate.
2. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To ejaculate on or into.

Anagrams

• PMSer, perms, prems

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma) (sense 1).

Noun

sperm m (definite singular spermen, uncountable)

1. sperm
2. short for spermasett (spermaceti); see spermhval.

Synonyms

• sperma
• sæd

Related terms

• sperme

Verb

sperm

1. imperative of sperme

References

• “sperm” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s(ɯ)pæɾm/

Noun

sperm

1. semen (male reproductory fluid)