Meanings
plural spermatozoa · alternative spermatozoön · alternative spermatozoan
- biologyA reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.
But let us suppose [...] that one hardy or lucky spermatozoon has reached the waiting egg.
2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 3391 more example
A sperm, or spermatozoa, is the microscopic male reproductive cell. Sperms are made up of oval-shaped heads and long tails that they use for mobility.
2024 June 11, Dr. Steve Chapman, “Is swallowing semen good for you?”, in Better2KnowSynonyms: sperm cell, zoosperm
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “sperm”) + ζῷον (zōîon, “living thing”), equivalent to spermato- + -zoon.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian сперматозои́д
- сперматозои́д (spermatozoíd)reproductive cell of the male
Catalan espermatozoide
- espermatozoidereproductive cell of the male
Chinese Mandarin 精子
- 精子 (jīngzǐ)reproductive cell of the male
Danish sædcelle, spermatozo
- sædcellereproductive cell of the male
- spermatozoreproductive cell of the male
Dutch spermatozoön
- spermatozoönreproductive cell of the male
Esperanto spermatozoo
- spermatozooreproductive cell of the male
Finnish siittiö
- siittiöreproductive cell of the male
French spermatozoïde, spermatozoaire
- spermatozoïdereproductive cell of the male
- spermatozoairereproductive cell of the male
German Spermium, Samenzelle
- Spermiumreproductive cell of the male
- Samenzellereproductive cell of the male
Greek σπερματοζωάριο
- σπερματοζωάριο (spermatozoário)reproductive cell of the male
Hindi शुक्राणु
- शुक्राणु (śukrāṇu)reproductive cell of the male
Hungarian hímivarsejt, ondósejt
- hímivarsejtreproductive cell of the male
- ondósejtreproductive cell of the male
- spermiumreproductive cell of the male
Icelandic sæðisfruma, sáð
- sæðisfrumareproductive cell of the male
- sáðreproductive cell of the male
- sáðfrumareproductive cell of the male
Irish speirmiteasón
- speirmiteasónreproductive cell of the male
Italian spermatozoo
- spermatozooreproductive cell of the male
Japanese 精子
- 精子 (seishi)reproductive cell of the male
Korean 정자
- 정자 (jeongja)reproductive cell of the male
Lithuanian spermatozoidas
- spermatozoidasreproductive cell of the male
Māori tao tātea
- tao tāteareproductive cell of the male
Norwegian Bokmål spermie, sædcelle
- spermiereproductive cell of the male
- sædcellereproductive cell of the male
Polish plemnik, spermatozoid
- plemnikreproductive cell of the male
- spermatozoidreproductive cell of the male
Portuguese espermatozoide
- espermatozoidereproductive cell of the male
Romanian spermatozoid
- spermatozoidreproductive cell of the male
Russian сперматозо́ид
- сперматозо́ид (spermatozóid)reproductive cell of the male
Scottish Gaelic cealla-sìl
- cealla-sìlreproductive cell of the male
Slovak spermia
- spermiareproductive cell of the male
Spanish espermatozoide
- espermatozoidereproductive cell of the male
Swedish spermie, sädescell
- spermiereproductive cell of the male
- sädescellreproductive cell of the male
- spermatozoreproductive cell of the male
Ukrainian сперматозо́їд
- сперматозо́їд (spermatozójid)reproductive cell of the male
Vietnamese tinh trùng
- tinh trùngreproductive cell of the male
Cite this entry
spermatozoon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermatozoon
“spermatozoon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermatozoon. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spermatozoon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermatozoon.
Source: spermatozoon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.