ovulateadj.
/ˈɒvjᵿlət/, /ˈəʊvjᵿlət/, U.S. /ˈoʊvjələt/, /ˈɑvjələt/ Botany.
Of a plant, esp. a conifer, or reproductive structure: bearing or producing ovules.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having or relating to parts > relating to or having ovule
anatropal1835
campylotropal1835
campylotropous1835
chalazal1835
atropous1839
anatropous1847
atropal1857
hemianatropous1857
hemitropous1860
hemitropal1864
nucellar1880
ovulate1890
1890 Cent. Dict. Ovulate, having or bearing ovules.
1909 W. L. Jepson Trees Calif. 53 Ovulate catkins with spirally arranged scales, each subtended by a distinct bract.
1949 W. O. James in A. G. Tansley Elem. Plant Biol. (ed. 3) xiii. 171 The megasporangiate (ovulate) cones, when they are ripe for fertilisation, are..about a centimetre long.
1965 Listener 20 May 743/1 The staminate trees are the ones that produce the pollen, the ovulate trees produce the seed.
2002 Internat. Jrnl. Plant Sci. 163 185 A phylogenetic analysis using morphological data from the ovulate cones of extant and fossil taxa of Pinaceae.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
ovulatev.
/ˈɒvjᵿleɪt/, /ˈəʊvjᵿleɪt/, U.S. /ˈoʊvjəˌleɪt/, /ˈɑvjəˌleɪt/ Physiology and Zoology.
1. intransitive. To produce ova or an ovum; to discharge ova or an ovum from the ovary. Also: (of an ovum) to be discharged.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive cycle > [verb (intransitive)] > ovulate
ovulate1851
superovulate1948
1851 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Oct. 334 The age when women cease to menstruate, and, of course, to ovulate.
1888 H. N. Martin in B. C. Hirst Syst. Obstetr. I. 92 Women who have never menstruated have borne children: they must have ovulated without menstruating.
1928 Q. Jrnl. Exper. Physiol. 18 197 The group of follicles which will ovulate at an œstrus period undergo nearly their whole maturation growth after the time when the œstrus stimulus becomes operative.
1959 New Biol. 30 21 The ovary at the time of ovulation looks like a bunch of grapes, but with the difference that all the grapes, or follicles, are of different size. The largest will ovulate first.
1995 G. R. Holmes Helping Teenagers into Adulthood 125 When a girl begins to menstruate and has irregular periods, she is often not ovulating or at least not ovulating regularly.
2. transitive. To discharge (an ovum).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive cycle > [verb (transitive)] > ovulate
ovulate1917
superovulate1936
1917 H. N. Hackett Biol. Twins ii. 38 The eggs are ovulated singly..and begin cleavage in normal fashion.
1973 Nature 13 July 72/1 One species, the plains viscacha (Lagostomus maximus), has a bizarre reproductive habit in that it ovulates between 200 and 800 eggs from ovaries that look more like those of a fish than a mammal.
1983 New Scientist 24 Mar. 801/1 In the female mammal, all the eggs that will ever be ovulated are already present at birth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1890v.1851