meroblasticadj.
/ˌmɛrə(ʊ)ˈblastɪk/, /ˌmɛrə(ʊ)ˈblɑːstɪk/, U.S. /ˌmɛrəˈblæstɪk/ Embryology.
Designating an ovum of which only a part undergoes cleavage to form the embryo; (also) designating this type of cleavage. Cf. holoblastic adj.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [adjective] > ovum > types of ovum
orthotropal1832
meroblastic1864
periblastic1876
holoblastic1879
orthotropous1880
telolecithal1880
progamous1885
teleplasmic1886
triovulate1891
1864 H. Power Carpenter's Princ. Human Physiol. (ed. 6) 746 The former kind of egg consists, therefore, altogether of germ-yolk; the latter of a small germ-yolk, and a large food-yolk. The former has been called ‘holoblastic’, the latter ‘meroblastic’.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 371 Monotremata... The ova are large and meroblastic.
1928 E. B. Wilson Cell (ed. 3) xiii. 997 At the extreme of the series we reach the partial or meroblastic type of cleavage.
1965 L. B. Arey Developmental Anat. (ed. 7) v. 64 On the basis of the abundance and distribution of yolk, cleavage is classified as follows... Protoplasmic region alone cleaves; meroblastic ova.
1991 S. J. Gould Bully for Brontosaurus xviii. 270 Egg-laying land vertebrates, reptiles and birds, tend to produce yolky egg cells with meroblastic cleavage.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1864