oo-
(əʊəʊ)
before a vowel o-, combining form of Gr. {wlenisisub}όν egg, ovum, used in various scientific terms, chiefly biological. (See the more important of these in their alphabetical places.) ooblast (ˈəʊəblæst) [Gr. βλαστός germ], ‘the primordial cell which develops into an ovule’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.); hence ooˈblastic a. oocyan (ˌəʊəʊˈsaɪən) [Gr. κύανος a dark-blue mineral], a blue pigment occurring in the shells of birds' eggs. oœcium (əʊˈiːsɪəm) [Gr. οἰκίον a little house], a bud-like sac in which the ova are received and fertilized in certain Polyzoa; hence oˈœcial a. oogenesis (ˌəʊəʊˈdʒɛnɪsɪs) [genesis], the production or development of an ovum; so oogenetic (ˌəʊəʊdʒɪˈnɛtɪk) a., pertaining to oogenesis. oogeny (əʊˈɒdʒɪnɪ) = oogenesis. oograph (ˈəʊəgrɑːf, -æ-) [-graph], a mechanical device for tracing accurately the outline of a bird's egg. oometer (əʊˈɒmɪtə(r)) [-meter], a mechanical device for taking exact measurements of eggs; so oometric (ˌəʊəʊˈmɛtrɪk) a., pertaining to an oometer, or to oˈometry, the measurement of eggs. oophyte (ˈəʊəfaɪt) [Gr. ϕυτόν plant] = oophore. oorhodeine (ˌəʊəʊˈrəʊdiːaɪn) [Gr. ῥόδον rose], a reddish pigment found in the shells of most birds' eggs. ooscopy (əʊˈɒskəpɪ) [Gr. ὠοσκοπία], inspection of or divination from eggs. oostegite (əʊˈɒstɪdʒaɪt) [Gr. στέγειν to cover: see -ite1 3], an egg-case in some Crustacea, formed by an expansion of the limbs of certain somites; hence oostegitic (əʊˌɒstɪˈdʒɪtɪk) a. ‖ ootheca (əʊəʊˈθiːkə) [Gr. θήκη case, receptacle], an egg-case in certain invertebrate animals; also, formerly, a sporangium in ferns; hence ooˈthecal a. ootype (ˈəʊətaɪp) [Gr. τύπος impression, type], a dilated portion of the oviduct in some Trematode worms, in which the egg is fertilized and provided with a shell. ooxanthine (əʊɒkˈsænθaɪn, əʊəʊˈzænθaɪn) [Gr. ξανθός yellow], a yellow pigment occurring in the shells of birds' eggs.
1875 Sorby in Proc. Zool. Soc. 355 *Oocyan..is..often associated with yellow substances..therefore the solution is of a somewhat green-blue colour. 1875 Newton in Encycl. Brit. III. 774 Some chemical relation between the oocyans and the bile. |
1881 G. Busk in Jrnl. Microsc. Sc. Jan. 3 The *oœcium is sub-globular and affixed to the upper and outer border of the zoœcium. |
1892 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Oögenesis ..*Oögeny. 1925 R. E. Snodgrass Anat. & Physiol. Honeybee xii. 270 The process [of development] in the case of the egg cells involves oogenesis and maturation. 1960 New Biol. XXXI. 94 The process of oogenesis must not predetermine the post-fertilization history of the egg. 1974 L. B. Arey Developmental Anat. (ed. 7 rev.) iii. 31 The word ‘egg’ or ‘ovum’ is often used when referring to any stage in the course of differentiation of the female sex cell during oögenesis. |
1895 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. V. xxii. 500 Some hypothetic rudiments they [sc. Weismann and others] consider to exist at the very earliest stage of the embryonic, or *oogenetic process. |
1886 Athenæum 25 Dec. 867/1 The correlative growths may assume the characters of the *oophyte or prothallus. 1895 tr. Kerner's Nat. Hist. Plants II. 476 In the Fern, two stages are well shown in the life-cycle, (1) the prothallium, the sexual generation or oophyte, and (2) the fern-plant, the asexual generation (or sporophyte). |
1875 Sorby in Proc. Zool. Soc. 354 *Oorhodeine..occurs..in the shells of such a great number of eggs that its entire absence is exceptional. 1875 Newton in Encycl. Brit. III. 774/2 Inclined to think that oorhodeine is in some way or other closely related to cruentine. |
1727 Bailey vol. II, *Ooscopy, predictions made from Eggs. |
1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. vi. 366 The eggs of the ordinary Edriophthalmia usually undergo their development in the chamber beneath the thorax enclosed by the *oostegites of the thoracic appendages. |
1851–6 Woodward Mollusca 136 Spawn (*ootheca) vermiform, thick, semicircular. |
1888 Rolleston & Jackson Forms Anim. Life 649 In the monogenetic [Trematoda] its [the egg's] shape varies, and is determined by that of the ‘*ootype’. |
1875 Sorby in Proc. Zool. Soc. 356 Emu-eggs..are of a fine malachite green colour, due to a mixture of yellow *ooxanthine with oocyan. Ibid. 357 Rufous ooxanthine..differs from yellow ooxanthine in absorbing light to a..greater distance from the blue end. |