Etymology

zoosperm

Z10O1O1S1P3E1R1M3

Today it means: spermatozoon (sperm cell). Full definition →

English sperm ← Middle English sperme ← Ancient Greek ζῷον (zōîon)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷyéh₃-w-os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*d͏̌ōwós
  4. Ancient Greekζωός (zōós)
  5. Ancient Greekζώῐ̈ον (zṓĭ̈on)
  6. Ancient Greekζῷον (zōîon)
  7. Englishzoo-
  8. Middle Englishsperme
  9. Englishsperm
  10. English todayzoosperm

From zoo- + sperm.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.