parthenogenesis

/ˌpɑːθɪnəʊˈd͡ʒɛnɪsɪs/

parthenogenesis means referring to various aspects of asexual reproduction:; (An instance of) reproduction by the development of a single gamete (an ovum or ovule) without fertilisation by a gamete of the opposite sex; compare monogenesis, metagenesis, and heterogamy.

parthenogenesis is pronounced /ˌpɑːθɪnəʊˈd͡ʒɛnɪsɪs/.

Why “parthenogenesis” is a great word

A form of asexual reproduction in which an unfertilized gamete, typically an egg, develops into a new individual. From the Ancient Greek παρθένος (parthénos, "virgin") and γένεσις (génesis, "origin, creation"), first attested in English in 1849. Unlike "agamogenesis," the broader term for all asexual generation without the specific implication of virgin origin, or "metagenesis," which describes a cyclical alternation between sexual and asexual phases, parthenogenesis is the radical solitude of self-creation. It is the whiptail lizard in the desert sun, her daughters perfect genetic echoes; the aphid swelling in summer, her body a factory of clones; the honeybee's unfertilized egg becoming a drone, born of a female alone. In this word lives the ancient fantasy and biological fact of making life without the other—the egg as both question and complete answer, the closed loop of a world that needs no witness to begin again.

Etymology

From partheno- + -genesis, from Ancient Greek παρθένος (parthénos, “virgin”) and γένεσις (génesis, “origin, creation, generation”).

noun

Referring to various aspects of asexual reproduction:; (An instance of) reproduction by the development of a single gamete (an ovum or ovule) without fertilisation by a gamete of the opposite sex; compare monogenesis, metagenesis, and heterogamy.e.g.“Scientists say the birth is the second confirmed instance of a shark being conceived by parthenogenesis, a process in which an unfertilised egg develops into a new individual.”
Referring to various aspects of asexual reproduction:; Asexual reproduction in toto; agamogenesis.
figurative uses of the biological senses
Virgin birth, in reference to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.e.g.“So one might reasonably be led to hold, for instance, that the parthenogenesis of Christ does not beget faith in Christ […]”

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

abiogenesis 83% match — The origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents. vs parthenogenesis →
ectogenesis 81% match — The development of an organism in an artificial environment outside the body in which it naturally grows. vs parthenogenesis →
sex 80% match — A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch. vs parthenogenesis →
unigeniture 80% match — The state of being the sole begotten. vs parthenogenesis →
parthenolatry 80% match — The worship of virgins, or of the Virgin Mary. vs parthenogenesis →
fecundate 80% match — To make fertile. vs parthenogenesis →
morphogenesis 80% match — The differentiation of tissues and subsequent growth of structures in an organism vs parthenogenesis →
telegony 80% match — The belief that, in the case of siblings from the same mother but different fathers, the second sibling could inherit characteristics from the father of the first. vs parthenogenesis →