(ˌ)spərˈmāshēəm noun
( plural sperma·tia -ēə)
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek spermation, diminutive of spermat-, sperma sperm — more at sperm
1. : a nonmotile male gamete of a red alga that conjugates with the egg in the carpogonium
2. : a nonmotile cell developed in various fungi and lichens by abstriction from a sterigma within a spermagonium and apparently functioning as a male gamete though sometimes considered a conidium (as a pycnospore)