spore
Pronunciation: /spɔː/
noun
Biology- a minute, typically one-celled, reproductive unit capable of giving rise to a new individual without sexual fusion, characteristic of lower plants, fungi, and protozoans.
- Botany (in a plant exhibiting alternation of generations) a haploid reproductive cell which gives rise to a gametophyte.
- Microbiology (in bacteria) a rounded resistant form adopted by a bacterial cell in adverse conditions.
Origin:
mid 19th century: from modern Latin spora, from Greek spora 'sowing, seed', from speirein 'to sow'