ovo-

combining form

a variant of ovi-

ovi- or ovo-

combining form

egg or ovum

⇒ oviform

⇒ ovotestis

Origin

from Latin ōvum

ovo-

variant of ovi-:

ovolactovegetarian.

Related Words

ovi-
ovolactarian
ovotestis

ovo-

combining form
⇨ see ov-

⇨ see ovi-

ovo-|əʊvəʊ|used in some words as comb. form of L. ovum egg; see most of these in their alphabetical places. Sometimes used with adjectives of form to denote an approach to an oval shape, as in ovo-eˈlliptic, ovo-ˈpyriform, ovo-rhomˈboidal.1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. vi. i. 292 The head [of the Head Louse] is ovo-rhomboidal.1885J. Beddoe Races Brit. 236 Elliptic and ovo-elliptic forms prevail in the east; pyriform and ovo-pyriform ones in the west.

ovo- /ˈəʊvəʊ/ combining form.

ORIGIN: from Latin ovum egg: see -o-.

Forming chiefly nouns with the sense ‘of or pertaining to ova or eggs’, and (occas.) compound adjectives with the sense ‘partly oval and partly — in shape’. Cf. oo-, ovi-¹.

DERIVATIVE ovocyte noun (Biology) = oocyte L19.
ovoˈgenesis noun (Biology) = oogenesis M19.
ovogeˈnetic adjective (Biology) = oogenetic M19.
ovoˈmucin noun (Biochemistry) a water-insoluble proteoglycan in egg white L19.
ovoˈmucoid noun (Biochemistry) a water-soluble proteoglycan in egg white (also ovomucoid α); ovomucoid β = ovomucin: L19.

☞ ovi-

ovo-
— see ov-

ovo-

Prefix

Forming compound words with the sense ‘related to eggs or ova’.
2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 611: [cf. oleaginous]
This being just at the height of the culte de la mayonnaise then sweeping Belgium, oversize exhibits of the ovoöleaginous emulsion were to be encountered at every hand.

Etymology

From Latin ovum (“egg”).

Derived terms

ovopathy

词根词缀：ovo-

【来源及含义】Latin: egg

【同源单词】Ab ovo, Ab ovo usque ad mala, ovocenter, ovocyte, ovoflavin, ovogenesis