Wiktionary

zygote

See also: Zygote

English

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WOTD – 22 May 2025

Etymology

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A micrograph of a human zygote on the first day of its development.

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ζῠγωτός (zŭgōtós, “yoked”) + English -ote (suffix meaning ‘having [the thing to which it is attached]’). Ζῠγωτός (Zŭgōtós) is derived from ζῠγόω (zŭgóō, “to join or yoke together”) + -τός (-tós, suffix forming adjectives of possibility);[1] and ζῠγόω (zŭgóō) from ζῠγόν (zŭgón, “yoke for joining animals; anything which joins two things together”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yewg- (“to tie together, join, yoke”)) + -όω (-óō, suffix forming causative or factitive verbs). By surface analysis, zygo- +‎ -ote.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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zygote (plural zygotes)

  1. (cytology, also attributive) A eukaryotic cell formed from the fusion of two gametes (“reproductive cells”) during a fertilization process. [from late 19th c.]
    Hyponyms: homozygote, heterozygote, merozygote, monozygote, parthenote, planozygote

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Irish: siogót
  • → Malay: zigot

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “zygote, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “zygote, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Zygote, a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ζῠγωτός (zŭgōtós, “yoked”), from ζῠγόω (zŭgóō, “to join or yoke together”) + -τός (-tós, suffix forming adjectives of possibility). Ζῠγόω (Zŭgóō) is derived from ζῠγόν (zŭgón, “yoke for joining animals; anything which joins two things together”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yewg- (“to tie together, join, yoke”)) + -όω (-óō, suffix forming causative or factitive verbs).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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zygote m (plural zygotes)

  1. zygote

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Further reading

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