holoblastic, a. Biol.
(hɒləʊˈblæstɪk)
[f. holo- + Gr. βλαστός germ, -blast + -ic.]
Of an ovum: Wholly germinal; undergoing total segmentation (as in most mammals). Opp. to meroblastic.
| 1872 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds (1884) 220 Supposing it already fertilized, the whole of its contents would develop into the body of the embryo. It would therefore be holoblastic. 1879 tr. Haeckel's Evol. Man I. 215 Such animal eggs have long been called holoblastic..by Remak, because in them the cleavage into cells extends to the whole mass. |
So ˈholoblast, a holoblastic ovum (Cent. Dict.).