The female gamete in plants, located within the embryo sac of flowering plants or the archegonium of non-flowering plants. Upon fertilization by a sperm cell, it develops into the plant embryo.
From Old Norse 'egg' meaning the reproductive body of birds, later extended to all female reproductive cells, and 'cell' from Latin 'cella' meaning 'small room'. The botanical usage developed as microscopy revealed the cellular nature of plant reproduction in the 19th century.
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