[f. Gr. σύν SYN- + γάμος marriage.] a. Free interbreeding between organisms. b. The fusion of two cells, or of their nuclei, in reproduction. Hence Syngamic, Syngamous adjs.
1904. Hartog, in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci., March, 595. I venture to propose the term ‘Syngamy’ to replace ‘fertilisation’ in its modern restricted sense…; and the derivative adjectives ‘syngamic’ and ‘syngamous’ follow naturally.
1904. Poulton, Ess. Evolution, ii. (1908), 60. Forms which freely interbreed together … may be … called Syngamic…. Free interbreeding under natural conditions may be termed Syngamy.
