gonad

(gō'năd')
n.
An organ in animals that produces gametes, especially a testis or ovary.

[New Latin gonas, gonad-, from Greek gonos, procreation, genitals.]

gonadal go·nad'al (gō-năd'l) or go·nad'ic adj.

View more Health videos

(goh-nadz)

The organs in animals that produce sex cells: ovaries in the female, testes in the male.

any animal organ that produces gametes. In some species the gonads also produce hormones.
—gonadal adj.

Previous:	golgiosome, golgin, goitrogen
Next:	gonadoliberin, gonadotropic hormone, gonadotropin

A sex gland; a gamete-producing gland; the ovary in the female and the testis in the male.
The ovary produces the ovum and the testis produces the spermatozoon. In addition, the gonads secrete hormones that influence the development of the reproductive organs and the physical traits that differentiate males from females, such as a crest and body form and size (the secondary sex characters). The hormones produced by the ovary include estrogen and progesterone. The principal hormone produced by the testis is testosterone.

• hermaphroditic g's — these gonads vary widely between combinations of male and female tissues in an ovotestis, of which there may be one or two, to a testicle on one side and an ovary on the other.
• indifferent g. — the primordial stage of the embryonal gonad, before differentiation into a male or female organ.

(gō′nad)
n

An ovary or testis, the site of origin of eggs or spermatozoa.

For a list of words related to gonad, see:

• Reproductive System - gonad: reproductive gland that produces gametes: male testis, female ovary
• Reproduction and Development - gonad: organ that produces gametes: female ovary or male testis
• Anatomy and Physiology of Sex - gonad: organ producing eggs or sperm

---

See words rhyming with "gonad."