Embryo
English Meaning
The first rudiments of an organism, whether animal or plant
- An organism in its early stages of development, especially before it has reached a distinctively recognizable form.
- An organism at any time before full development, birth, or hatching.
- The fertilized egg of a vertebrate animal following cleavage.
- In humans, the prefetal product of conception from implantation through the eighth week of development.
- Botany The minute, rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an archegonium.
- A rudimentary or beginning stage: "To its founding fathers, the European [Economic] Community was the embryo of the United States of Europe” ( Economist).