Word.ws English Dictionary

vitellary

UK/vɪˈtɛləɹi/US/vɪˈtɛləɹi/

vitellary adjective: vitelline.

Adjective

vitellary (comparative more vitellary, superlative most vitellary)

  1. Vitelline.
    • The intestine makes several turns outside of the umbilicus, and continues in communication with the vitellary sac by means of the vitellary duct; upon the inner surface of the vitellary sac, and over the tortuous veins, membranous productions — puckered or wrinkled folds — make their appearance;1841, Rudolph Wagner, Elements of Physiology, page 125
    • The gelatinous-looking investment which, as above seen, the ovum in the Fallopian tube presents in addition to the vitellary membrane (zona) of the ovarian ovum, was first indicated by the author of this report as the future chorion.1843 October, T. Wharton Jones, “Report on the Ovum of Man and the Mammifera, Before and After Fecundation”, in The British and Foreign Medical Review or Quarterly Journal, volume 16., page 553

Noun

vitellary (plural vitellaries)

  1. A cluster of undeveloped eggs within the ovary of a female bird.
    • It is the Opinion of most, and that no without great Probability, that all the Eggs a Hen will ever lay, are contain'd in this Vitellary or Cluster, and that as soon as this Number is exhausted, she will become effœte or barren.1879, John Moore, William Bernhard Tegetmeier, Moore's Columbarium, page 9
    • A greater difficulty, in the doctrine of eggs, is, how the sperm of the cock prolificates and makes the oval conception fruitful, or how it attaineth unto every egg, since the vitellary or place of the yolk is very high; since the ovary or part where the white involveth it, is in the second region...1884, Sir Thomas Browne, Simon Wilkin, The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, page 373
  2. The vitelline gland; a gland that produces yolk in some worms.
    • In Asplanchnaceae, the germary is median, continuous at the distal end with the middle of the transverse horseshoe-shaped vitellary. In Bdelloidaceae and Seisonaceae the whole organ is paired, the germary proximal, the vitellary next the cloaca.1911, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 762
    • The germary is ventrolaterally joint to the syncytial tissue. Mouth of the vitellary not seen .1990, Microfauna marina - Volume 6, page 81

Forms of vitellary

Adjective
comparativemore vitellary
superlativemost vitellary
Noun
pluralvitellaries

Origin of vitellary

From Latin vitellus (“a little calf, the yolk of an egg”) + -ary.

Questions about vitellary

What does vitellary mean?
Vitellary means vitelline.
What part of speech is vitellary?
Vitellary can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce vitellary?
Vitellary is pronounced /vɪˈtɛləɹi/ (UK).

Words near vitellary in the dictionary

  1. vitellarian
  2. vitellarias
  3. vitellaries
  4. vitellarium
  5. vitellariums
  6. vitellary
  7. vitelli
  8. vitellicle
  9. vitellicles
  10. vitelliferous
  11. vitelliform

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vitellary (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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