Male Reproductive System Vocab Flashcards
(40 cards)
BULBOURETHRAL GLANDS
Pair of exocrine glands near the male urethra. They secrete fluid of the urethra. Also called Cowper glands.
CIRCUMCISION
Removal of the prepuce (foreskin). It is a common elective procedure performed shortly after birth.
EJACULATION
Ejection of sperm and fluid from the male urethra.
EJACULATORY DUCT
Tube through which semen enters the male urethra.
EPIDIDYMIS
One of a pair of long, tightly coiled tubes above each testis. It stores and carries sperm from seminiferous tubules to the vas deferens.
Plural: epididymides
ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION
Inability of an adult male to achieve an erection; impotence.
FLAGELLUM
Hair-like projection on a sperm cell that makes it motile (able to move).
FORESKIN
Fold of skin covering the head of the penis; prepuce.
FRATERNAL TWINS
Two infants resulting from fertilization of two separate ova by two separate sperm cells.
GLANS PENIS
Sensitive tip of the penis; comparable to the clitoris in the female.
IDENTICAL TWINS
Two infants resulting from division of one fertilized egg.
Conjoined (‘Siamese’) twins are incompletely separated identical twins.
MALE INFERTILITY
In a male, any problem that lowers the chances of his female partner getting pregnant.
INTERSTITIAL CELLS
Specialized cells that lie adjacent to the seminiferous tubules in the testes. These cells produce testosterone and are also called Leydig cells.
PARENCHYMAL TISSUE
Essential distinctive cells of an organ. In the testis, the seminiferous tubules that produce sperm are parenchymal.
PENIS
Male external organ of reproduction.
PERINEUM
External region between the anus and scrotum in the male. Perineal means pertaining to the perineum.
PREPUCE
Foreskin; fold of skin covering the tip of the penis.
PROSTATE GLAND
Exocrine gland at the base of the male urinary bladder. The prostate secretes fluid that contributes to semen during ejaculation.
Don’t confuse prostate with prostrate, which means lying down.
SCROTUM
External sac that contains the testes.
SEMEN
Spermatozoa (sperm cells) and seminal fluid (prostatic and seminal vesicle secretions), discharged from the urethra during ejaculation.
SEMINAL VESICLES
Paired sac-like exocrine glands that secrete fluid (a major component of semen) into the vas deferens.
SEMINIFEROUS TUBULES
Narrow, coiled tubules that produce sperm in the testes.
SPERMATOZOON
Sperm cell.
(plural: spermatozoa)
STERILIZATION
Procedure that removes a person’s ability to produce or release reproductive cells; removal of testicles, vasectomy, and oophorectomy are sterilization procedures.
