testis

views updated May 21 2018

testis (testicle) The reproductive organ in male animals in which spermatozoa are produced. In vertebrates there are two testes; as well as sperm, they produce steroid hormones (see androgen). In most animals the testes are within the body cavity but in mammals, although they develop within the body near the kidneys, they come to hang outside the body cavity in a scrotum. Most of the vertebrate testis is made up of a mass of seminiferous tubules, lined with Sertoli cells, in which the sperms develop (see spermatogenesis). It is connected to the outside by means of the vas deferens. See reproductive system.

testicle

views updated May 14 2018

tes·ti·cle / ˈtestikəl/ • n. either of the two oval organs that produce sperm in men and other male mammals, enclosed in the scrotum behind the penis. Also called testis.DERIVATIVES: tes·tic·u·lar / teˈstikyələr/ adj.

testis

views updated Jun 11 2018

testis The male gonad responsible for the production of spermatozoa. Testes are made up of semeniferous tubules in which the male gametes develop, nourished by Sertoli cells attached to the tubule walls. Interstitial cells between the tubules produce testosterone. Compare OVARY.

testis

views updated May 23 2018

tes·tis / ˈtestis/ • n. (pl. -tes / -ˌtēz/ ) Anat. & Zool. an organ that produces spermatozoa (male reproductive cells). Compare with testicle.

testis

views updated May 21 2018

testis (tes-tis) n. (pl. testes) either of the pair of male sex organs that produce spermatozoa and secrete male sex hormones (see androgen) under the control of gonadotrophins from the pituitary gland. The testes are contained within the scrotum (see reproductive system). See also spermatogenesis.

testis

views updated Jun 08 2018

testis (pl. testes) Male sex gland, found as a pair located in a pouch, the scrotum, external to the body. The testes are made up of seminiferous tubules in which sperm are formed and mature, after which they drain into ducts and are stored in the epididymis prior to being discharged.

testicle

views updated May 23 2018

testicle (test-ikŭl) n. either of the pair of male sex organs within the scrotum. It consists of the testis and its system of ducts (the vasa efferentia and epididymis).

testis

views updated May 18 2018

testis (anat.) TESTICLE. XVII. — L.

testicle

views updated May 29 2018

testicle XV. — L. testiculus, dim. of testis witness (the organ being evidence of virility).
So testicular XVII.

testicle

views updated May 18 2018

testicle See testis.