noun the production of seed without fertilization, believed to occur through the nonsexual formation of an embryo extraneous to the embrionic vesicle.
2. parthenogenesis ·noun the production of new individuals from virgin females by means of ova which have the power of developing without the intervention of the male element; the production, without fertilization, of cells capable of germination. it is one of the phenomena of alternate generation. ·cf. heterogamy, and metagenesis.