repr. Gr. σπερματο-, combining form of the stem of σπέρμα SPERM sb., employed in a large number of terms (chiefly of very recent origin) relating to the reproductive organs or activities of animals and plants.
Some of these are employed only in L. forms, as spermatocystidium, -cystis, -cystitis, etc., and others have had very little currency even in special works. A number have alternative forms in sperma- or spermo-.
1. In terms denoting special reproductive organs, or parts of these, as Spermatoblast, -cyst, -cyte, -gemma, -gone, -gonium, -mere, -spore.
Some of these are the source of adj. forms, as spermatoblastic, -cystic, -gonial, -gonic, etc.
1882. Imp. Dict., IV. 155/1. *Spermatoblast,… certain stalk-like filaments in the seminal ducts upon which the spermatozoa are developed.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XX. 412/1. To the whole prolongation with its lobes he [Von Ebner] applies the term spermatoblast.
1884. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 61. The first stages in the development of the *spermatocyst of Hydra.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XX. 412/2. One kind … divide into a mass or spermatogemma of small cells (*spermatocytes). Ibid., 413/1. The *spermatogemma meanwhile is developing a central cavity.
1898. A. S. Packard, Text-bk. Entomol., 499. A colossal cell,… the *spermatogone, from which the entire contents of the testes originate.
1861. Bentley, Man. Bot., 384. The spermagonia or *spermatogonia [in Lichens] were first discovered by Tulasne.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XX. 412/2. One kind, resembling young ovules, which he [Von La Valette St. George] terms primitive seminal cells or spermatogonia.
1886. Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci., XXVI. 597. The region where the spermatogonia are formed at the expense of their mother-cells or *spermatomeres.
2. In some other sbs. and adjs. with second elements of obvious meaning, as Spermatogenesis, -genetic a., -genic a., -logy, -phoral a., -phorous a., -pœic a., -rrhœa, -spore.
1881. Athenæum, 11 June, 787/1. M. Mathias Duval on *spermatogenesis.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XX. 412/1. The process of spermatogenesis in the Bull, Dog, and Rabbit. Ibid. Ascribing *spermatogenetic functions both to the spermatoblasts and to the round cells.
1880. Allman, in Linn. Soc. Jrnl., Zool., XV. 136. These I regard as the remains of the *spermatogenic tissue.
1851. Dunglison, Med. Lex., *Spermatology, a treatise on sperm.
1886. Howes & Scott, Huxley’s Pract. Biol., 291. The *spermatophoral gland or flagellum.
1851. Dunglison, Med. Lex., *Spermatophorous, sperm-bearing. The cells or granules in the sperm have been so called.
1799. Monthly Rev., XXX. 521. A curious restorative and *spermatopoeic sugar-candy of the Japanese.
1858. Mayne, Expos. Lex., 1180/2. *Spermatorrhœa,… seminal flux.
1879. T. Bryant, Pract. Surg., II. 226. Spermatorrhœa doubtless exists as a disease although rare.
1880. Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci., 83. The term *spermatospore … is applied to the constituent cells of a testis, derived from the primitive germ-epithelium.
