-gamous

American

a combining form with the meaning “having gametes or reproductive organs” of the kind specified by the initial element: heterogamous; also forming adjectives corresponding to nouns ending in -gamy: endogamous.

-gamous British

combining form

denoting marrying or uniting sexually

monogamous

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does -gamous mean? The combining form -gamous is used like a suffix meaning “having gametes or reproductive organs.” Gametes are a mature sexual reproductive cell, such as a sperm or egg, that unites with another cell to form a new organism. The form -gamous is also used to form adjectives related to the form -gamy, which means "marriage." In this sense, -gamous means roughly "married."The form -gamous is often used in scientific terms, especially in biology. It comes from Greek -gamos, meaning “marrying.”What are variants of -gamous?While -gamous doesn't have any variants, it is related to the form -gamy, as in endogamy. Additional combining forms of the same general origin include gamet-, gameto-, and gamo-. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for the forms.

Etymology

Origin of -gamous

From Greek -gamos “marrying”; see -ous

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023