noun pl. embryos
- an animal in the earliest stages of its development in the uterus or the egg, specif., in humans, from conception to about the eighth week
- an early or undeveloped stage of something
- anything in such a stage
- the rudimentary plant contained in a seed, usually made up of hypocotyl, radicle, plumule, and cotyledons
Origin:
ME embrio < ML embryo < Gr embryon, embryo, fetus, thing newly born, neut. of embryos, growing in < en-, in + bryein, to swell, be full