sperm
1 Americannoun
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variant of spermo- before a vowel.
spermine.
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a combining form with the meaning “one having seeds” of the kind specified by the initial element.
gymnosperm.
noun
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short for sperm whale spermaceti sperm oil
combining form
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(in botany) a seed
gymnosperm
noun
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another name for semen
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a male reproductive cell; male gamete
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The smaller, usually motile male reproductive cell of most organisms that reproduce sexually. Sperm cells are haploid (they have half the number of chromosomes as the other cells in the organism's body). Sperm often have at least one flagellum. During fertilization, the nucleus of a sperm fuses with the nucleus of the much larger egg cell (the female reproductive cell) to form a new organism. In male animals, sperm are normally produced by the testes in extremely large numbers in order to increase the chances of fertilizing an egg. Motile sperm cells produced by some multicellular protist groups (such as the algae), the bryophyte plants, and the seedless vascular plants, require water to swim to the egg cell. In gymnosperms and angiosperms, sperm do not need water for mobility but are carried to the female reproductive organs in the pollen grain. In the cycads and the gingko (both gymnosperms), the sperm are motile and propel themselves down the pollen tube to reach the egg cell. In the conifers and angiosperms, the sperm are not themselves motile but are conveyed to the ovule by the growing pollen tube.
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The male sex cell, typically consisting of a head, midpiece, and tail. (See fertilization.)
Usage
What does sperm- mean? Sperm- is a combining form used like a prefix representing “sperm.” Sperm are the reproductive cells contained in semen. Sperm- means "sperm" both literally and figuratively, as in "germ" or "seed." It is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology.Sperm- comes from the Greek spérma, meaning “seed.”What are variants of sperm-?Sperm- is a variant of spermo-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.The forms spermi- and spermato- are also combining forms from Greek spérma that are variously used to mean "sperm" or "seed."Related combining forms used as suffixes include -sperm, -spermal, -spermic, and -spermous.Want to learn more? Check out our Words That Use entries for each of these seven forms.
Closer Look
The human sperm cell is divided into a head that contains the nucleus, a mid-section that contains mitochondria to provide energy for the sperm, and a flagellum that allows the sperm to move. When fertilization occurs, the nucleus and other contents from the sperm cells are drawn into the cytoplasm of the egg, but the mitochondria in the sperm are destroyed and do not survive in the zygote. Since mitochondria contain their own DNA (thought to be a relic from an existence as separate symbiotic organisms), all of the mitochrondrial DNA in humans is thus inherited from the female. The semen produced by the male reproductive tract as a medium for sperm typically contains over 100 million sperm cells, all of which have but one purpose: to fertilize the single available egg.
Discover More
Sperm are much smaller than the ova they fertilize.
Other Word Forms
- -spermous combining form
Etymology
Origin of sperm1
1350–1400; Middle English sperme < Late Latin sperma < Greek spérma seed, equivalent to sper- (base of speírein to sow seeds) + -ma noun suffix of result
Origin of sperm2
First recorded in 1830–40; by shortening
Origin of -sperm4
< Greek -spermos; -spermous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
During this time, sperm production stopped completely, and key features of meiosis, including chromosome behavior during prophase 1, were disrupted.
From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026
Diamond said that in the company’s clinical research on men with male-factor infertility, findings showed its male prenatals significantly boosted sperm motility, or how well the sperm moves.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
"Our study shows that mostly we recover normal meiosis and complete sperm function, and more importantly, that the offspring are completely normal," Cohen said.
From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026
Pav Stojkovic, who lives in L.A. and works in tech, and his wife were trying to get pregnant for six months until he discovered he had varicocele, a common condition that was impacting his sperm.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
De Vries also pored through Darwin's books, and he latched onto the theory of pangenesis—the idea that “particles of information” from the body were somehow collected and collated in sperm and eggs.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.