‖ spermogonium
(-ˈgəʊnɪəm)
Pl. -gonia.
[mod.L., f. spermo- + Gr. γον- stem of γονή, γόνος offspring, etc. Cf. spermagonium.]
1. Bot. One of the receptacles in lichens and fungi in which the spermatia are produced.
| 1857 Henfrey Bot. 169 Smaller chambers, analogous in structure to the perithecia,..occur in the thallus of all Lichens..; they are called spermogonia. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1211/2 The pycnidia or spermogonia of different sporidiiferous lichens. 1887 W. Phillips Brit. Discomycetes 349 Spermogonia in the form of minute depressed tubercles. |
2. Phys. A sperm-cell.
| 1913 J. W. Jenkinson Vertebrate Embryol. 23 In the male sex the primordial germ-cells divide to form small cells, the spermogonia. |