\Gam"ete\ (g[a^]m"[=e]t; g[.a]*m[=e]t"; the latter
usually in compounds), n. [Gr. gameth` wife, or game`ths
husband, fr. gamei^n to marry.] (Biol.)
A sexual cell or germ cell; a conjugating cell which unites
with another of like or unlike character to form a new
individual. In Bot., gamete designates esp. the similar sex
cells of the lower thallophytes which unite by conjugation,
forming a zygospore. The gametes of higher plants are of two
sorts, {sperm} (male) and {egg} (female); their union is
called fertilization, and the resulting zygote an o["o]spore.
In Zo["o]l., gamete is most commonly used of the sexual cells
of certain Protozoa, though also extended to the germ cells
of higher forms.