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Re`pro*duc"tion (-d?k"sh?n), n. [Cf. F. reproduction.]


The act or process of reproducing; the state of being reproduced

; specifically Biol.,

the process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring.

⇒ There are two distinct methods of reproduction; viz.: asexual reproduction (agamogenesis) and sexual reproduction (gamogenesis). In both cases the new individual is developed from detached portions of the parent organism. In asexual reproduction (gemmation, fission, etc.), the detached portions of the organism develop into new individuals without the intervention of other living matter. In sexual reproduction, the detached portion, which is always a single cell, called the female germ cell, is acted upon by another portion of living matter, the male germ cell, usually from another organism, and in the fusion of the two (impregnation) a new cell is formed, from the development of which arises a new individual.


That which is reproduced.


© Webster 1913.
