from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Gamete \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 having a single set of unpaired
chromosomes; 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 oospore. In Zool., gamete is most
commonly used of the sexual cells of certain Protozoa, though
also extended to the germ cells of higher forms.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]