embryo

adj : in an early stage of development; "the embryo government

staffed by survivors of the massacre"; "an embryonic

nation, not yet self-governing"; "an idea in embryo"

[syn: {embryo(a)}, {embryonic}, {embryotic}, {in embryo}]

n 1: a minute rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an

archegonium

2: an animal organism in the early stages of growth and

differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal

stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of

larval life [syn: {conceptus}, {fertilized egg}]