The building blocks of English

Affixes

gon(o)-

Also gonado‑.

Sexual; reproductive.

Greek gonos, semen, seed, generation.

A gonad (see ‑ad1) is an organ such as a testis or ovary that produces mature germ cells; in invertebrates, a gonopore is an opening through which eggs or sperm are released; gonorrhoea (US gonorrhea) (Greek rhoia, flux) is a contagious infection of the genital tract caused by a bacterium called a gonococcus. The form gonado derives from gonad by adding the linking vowel ‑o‑; an example is ex>gonadotrophin (Greek trophē, nourishment), a hormone secreted by the pituitary which stimulates the action of the gonads.