sperm

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

sperm, n. [F. sperme, L. sperma, Gr. , , from to sow. Cf. Spore.].

 The male fecundating fluid; semen. See Semen.  [1913 Webster]

Sperm cell (Physiol.), one of the cells from which the spermatozoids are developed. -- Sperm morula. (Biol.) Same as Spermosphere.

sperm, n. [Contr. fr. spermaceti.].

 Spermaceti.  [1913 Webster]

Sperm oil, a fatty oil found as a liquid, with spermaceti, in the head cavities of the sperm whale. -- Sperm whale. (Zoöl.) See in the Vocabulary.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

sperm, n. (pl. same or sperms)
1 = SPERMATOZOON.
2 the male reproductive fluid containing spermatozoa; semen.
3 = sperm whale.
4 = SPERMACETI.
5 = sperm oil.

Idiom

sperm bank a supply of semen stored for use in artificial insemination. sperm count the number of spermatozoa in one ejaculation or a measured amount of semen. sperm oil an oil obtained from the head of a sperm whale, and used as a lubricant. sperm whale a large whale, Physeter macrocephalus, hunted for the spermaceti and sperm oil contained in its bulbous head, and for the ambergris found in its intestines: also called CACHALOT.

Etymology

ME f. LL sperma f. Gk sperma -atos seed f. speiro sow: in sperm whale an abbr. of SPERMACETI

THESAURUS

sperm

act of love, adultery, androcyte, antheridium, antherozoid, aphrodisia, ass, autacoid, balling, bile, carnal knowledge, chalone, climax, cohabitation, coition, coitus, coitus interruptus, commerce, congress, connection, copula, copulation, coupling, diddling, digestive secretion, endocrine, fornication, gall, gastric juice, hormone, intercourse, intestinal juice, intimacy, lovemaking, making it with, male gamete, marital relations, marriage act, mating, meat, milt, mucus, onanism, orgasm, ovum, pancreatic juice, pareunia, pollen, procreation, prostatic fluid, protein, relations, rheum, salivary secretion, screwing, scum, seed, semen, seminal fluid, sex, sex act, sexual climax, sexual commerce, sexual congress, sexual intercourse, sexual relations, sexual union, sleeping with, sperm cell, spermagonium, spermatic fluid, spermatid, spermatiophore, spermatium, spermatocyte, spermatogonium, spermatophore, spermatozoa, spermatozoid, spermatozoon, tears, thyroxin, venery

ROGET THESAURUS

sperm

Cause

N cause, origin, source, principle, element, occasioner, prime mover, primum mobile, vera causa, author, mainspring, agent, leaven, groundwork, foundation, spring, fountain, well, font, fountainhead, spring head, wellhead, fons et origo, genesis, descent, remote cause, influence, pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum, key, proximate cause, causa causans, straw that breaks the camel's back, ground, reason, reason why, why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation, final cause, les dessous des cartes, undercurrents, rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm, nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed, causality, causation, origination, production, caused, causal, original, primary, primitive, primordial, aboriginal, protogenal, radical, embryonic, embryotic, in embryo, in ovo, seminal, germinal, at the bottom of, connate, having a common origin, because, behind the scenes, causa latet vis est notissima, felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.