plural embryos
1
a
: an animal in the early stages of growth and differentiation that are characterized by cleavage, the laying down of fundamental tissues, and the formation of primitive organs and organ systems
especially : the developing human individual from the time of implantation to the end of the eighth week after conception
b
archaic : a vertebrate at any stage of development prior to birth or hatching
2
: the young sporophyte of a seed plant usually comprising a rudimentary plant with plumule, radicle, and cotyledons
3
a
: something as yet undeveloped
b
: a beginning or undeveloped state of something
productions seen in embryo during their out-of-town tryout period Henry Hewes

embryo-

2 of 2

combining form

: embryo
embryogeny

Examples of embryo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
This is where a fertilized egg grows and develops into an embryo and a fetus. Andrea L. Braden, Verywell Health, 14 Feb. 2025 Still, a fertility struggle After five and a half years of treatment, Loucks and her husband finally began transferring their frozen embryos. Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 12 Feb. 2025 Andres Gambini, who led the research into the kangaroo embryo, said the technique could be applied to other animals under the threat of extinction. Eric Cheung, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025 Basically, as soon as sperm meets egg and becomes an embryo, the resulting fetus is a child, with the same protections. Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 5 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for embryo 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English embrioun "embryo, fetus," borrowed from Medieval Latin embrion-, embrio, embryo, borrowed from Greek émbryon "newborn creature (in reference to a lamb), young, embryo or fetus," from em- em- + -bryon, derivative of bry-, stem of brýein "to swell with an abundance of growth, bloom, abound," of obscure origin

Note: In Medieval Latin the Greek neuter noun émbryon was reanalyzed as the base of Latin nasal stems (such as sermōn-, sermō "speech"), resulting in the nominative singular form embryo, which was borrowed into English. The stem embryon- was employed in New Latin derivatives, the sources of embryonal and embryonic. Compare bryo-.

Combining form

Late Latin, from Greek, from embryon

First Known Use

Noun

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Time Traveler
The first known use of embryo was in 1548

Dictionary Entries Near embryo

Cite this Entry

“Embryo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embryo. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

plural embryos
1
: an animal in the early stages of development that are marked by cleavage, the laying down of the basic tissues, and the formation of primitive organs and organ systems compare fetus
2
: a tiny young plant within a seed
3
: a beginning or undeveloped stage
used especially in the phrase in embryo

Medical Definition

plural embryos
1
archaic : a vertebrate at any stage of development prior to birth or hatching
2
: an animal in the early stages of growth and differentiation that are characterized by cleavage, the laying down of fundamental tissues, and the formation of primitive organs and organ systems
especially : the developing human individual from the time of implantation to the end of the eighth week after conception compare fetus

More from Merriam-Webster on embryo

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