embryo C1 Topic:Science & Research US /ˈɛmbɹi.oʊ/ UK /ˈɛmbɹi.əʊ/ See IPA manual Freq #18971 Meanings 1 noun a plant, animal, or human in the earliest stages of development The embryo develops rapidly after fertilization. 2 noun a rudimentary plant inside a seed The seed contains a tiny embryo and stored food. 3 noun an early, undeveloped form of something The plan was still an embryo of the final proposal. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a plant, animal, or human... early organismdeveloping organism 2 noun · a rudimentary plant inside... seed embryo 3 noun · an early, undeveloped form... beginninggermrudiment ↔ Opposites adultmature form Word family Derived forms embryonicembryogenesisembryologyembryonic Related forms fertilizationfetusseed Etymology Borrowed from Medieval Latin embryo, from Ancient Greek embryon, "young one in the womb," built from en, "in," plus a root meaning "to grow or swell." The literal image is growth within. Topics Science & Research External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # embryo **Type:** Word **Level:** C1 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈɛmbɹi.oʊ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɛmbɹi.əʊ/ **Frequency rank:** 18971 ## Meanings 1. a plant, animal, or human in the earliest stages of development 2. a rudimentary plant inside a seed 3. an early, undeveloped form of something ## Examples - The embryo develops rapidly after fertilization. - The seed contains a tiny embryo and stored food. - The plan was still an embryo of the final proposal. ## Synonyms - early organism - developing organism - beginning - germ - rudiment ## Antonyms - adult - mature form ## Derived Forms - embryonic - embryogenesis - embryology - embryonic ## Related Forms - fertilization - fetus - seed ## Etymology Borrowed from Medieval Latin embryo, from Ancient Greek embryon, "young one in the womb," built from en, "in," plus a root meaning "to grow or swell." The literal image is growth within. ## Topics - Science & Research markdown