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  • sperm
    sperm
    noun
    semen.
  • sperm-
    sperm-
    variant of spermo- before a vowel.
  • -sperm
    -sperm
    a combining form with the meaning “one having seeds” of the kind specified by the initial element.
Synonyms

sperm

1 American  
[spurm] / spɜrm /

noun

  • sperm,
    plural
  • sperms
    plural

  1. semen.

  2. a male reproductive cell; spermatozoon.

sperm 2 American  
[spurm] / spɜrm /

noun

  1. spermaceti.

  2. sperm whale.

  3. sperm oil.

sperm- 3 American  

  1. variant of spermo- before a vowel.

    spermine.
-sperm 4 American  

  1. a combining form with the meaning “one having seeds” of the kind specified by the initial element.

    gymnosperm.
-sperm 1 British  

combining form

  1. (in botany) a seed

    gymnosperm
"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
sperm 2 British  
/ spɜːm /

noun

  1. short for sperm whale spermaceti sperm oil

"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
sperm 3 British  
/ spɜːm /

noun

  1. another name for semen

  2. a male reproductive cell; male gamete

"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
sperm Scientific  
/ spûrm /

  1. 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.

sperm Cultural  

  1. 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

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

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; see -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.

See Examples For:

For men using testosterone therapy under the guidance of a physician, there is a “recovery” period between ending testosterone therapy and sperm counts returning to within normal levels, but it’s often not pre-testosterone levels.

From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026

Young men often don’t know their fertility status and might have a low sperm count to begin with.

From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026

In the UK, a sperm or egg donor can withdraw consent up until the embryo is transferred into the womb.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

When, as an adult, he fell in love with Audrey, another sperm donor baby from Paris, the question became even more pressing.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

It was an especially large type of whale called a sperm whale; from nose to tail it was as long as the Acorn itself.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Now, the theory has always been that the contact of the sperm- and germ-cells causes the development and fertilization of the latter.

From The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 by Allan Octavian Hume

Using the method, the team focused on sperms with defective capacitation, a process through which sperms become capable of fertilizing an egg.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2024

They identified these sperms by measuring how much calcium they absorbed.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2024

“If we want to go international and help women and couples in different parts of the world, we need non-Danish sperm, sperms of all colours,” says Schou.

From Newsweek ● Mar. 13, 2015

The history of endocrinology can be traced back to Dr.Brown-Séquard injecting himself with dog sperms to study its effect on his vitality and vigor.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 14, 2011

It is possible that in cruising after sperms they may go a little out of their way to take a finback or two.

From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale

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.