Oöphore
(O"ö*phore) n. [Gr. egg- bearing; w,'o`n an egg + to bear.] (Bot.) An alternately produced form
of certain cryptogamous plants, as ferns, mosses, and the like, which bears antheridia and archegonia,
and so has sexual fructification, as contrasted with the sporophore, which is nonsexual, but produces
spores in countless number. In ferns the oöphore is a minute prothallus; in mosses it is the leafy plant.
Oöphorectomy
(O`ö*pho*rec"to*my) n. [Gr. w,'o`n egg + to bear + a cutting out.] (Surg.) Ovariotomy.
Oöphoric
(O`ö*phor"ic) a. (Bot.) Having the nature of, or belonging to, an oöphore.
Oöphoridium
(||O`ö*pho*rid"i*um) n.; pl. L. Oöphorida E. Oöphoridiums [NL., dim. fr. Gr. . See Oöphore.]
(Bot.) The macrosporangium or case for the larger kind of spores in heterosporous flowerless plants.
Oöphoritis
(||O`ö*pho*ri"tis) n. [NL., fr. Gr. w,'o`n egg + fe`rein to bear + - itis.] (Med.) Ovaritis.
Oöphyte
(O"ö*phyte) n. [Gr. w,'o`n an egg + fyto`n a plant.] (Bot.) Any plant of a proposed class or
grand division (collectively termed oöphytes or Oöphyta), which have their sexual reproduction accomplished
by motile antherozoids acting on oöspheres, either while included in their oögonia or after exclusion.
This class was at first called Oösporeæ, and is made to include all algæ and fungi which have this kind of
reproduction, however they may differ in all other respects, the contrasted classes of Thallophytes being
Protophytes, Zygophytes, and Carpophytes. The whole system has its earnest advocates, but is rejected
by many botanists. See Carpophyte.
Oöphytic
(O`ö*phyt"ic) a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to an oöphyte.
Oörial
(O*ö"ri*al) n. (Zoöl.) A wild, bearded sheep inhabiting the Ladakh mountains. It is reddish brown,
with a dark beard from the chin to the chest.
Oösperm
(O"ö*sperm) n. sperm.]—> (Biol.) The ovum, after fusion with the spermatozoön in impregnation.
Balfour.
Oösphere
(O"ö*sphere) n. [Gr. an egg + E. sphere.]
1. (Bot.) An unfertilized, rounded mass of protoplasm, produced in an oögonium.
After being fertilized by the access of antherozoids it becomes covered with a cell wall and develops into
an oöspore, which may grow into a new plant like the parent.
2. (Bot.) An analogous mass of protoplasm in the ovule of a flowering plant; an embryonic vesicle.
Goodale.
Oösporangium
(||O`ö*spo*ran"gi*um) n.; pl. L. Oösporangia E. Oösporangiums [NL., fr. Gr. an egg +
vessel.] (Bot.) An oögonium; also, a case containing oval or rounded spores of some other kind than
oöspores.
Oöspore
(O"ö*spore) n. [Gr. an egg + a seed.] (Bot.) (a) A special kind of spore resulting from the
fertilization of an oösphere by antherozoids. (b) A fertilized oösphere in the ovule of a flowering plant.
Oösporic
(O`ö*spor"ic) a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to an oöspore.
Oöstegite
(O*ös"te*gite) n. [Gr. + a roof.] (Zoöl.) One of the plates which in some Crustacea inclose a
cavity wherein the eggs are hatched.
Oötheca
(||O`ö*the"ca) n.; pl. Oöthecæ [NL., fr. Gr. an egg + a case.] (Zoöl.) An egg case, especially those
of many kinds of mollusks, and of some insects, as the cockroach. Cf. Oœcium.
