An oval is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or two axes of symmetry of an ellipse. In common English, the term is used in a broader sense: any shape which reminds one of an egg. The three-dimensional version of an oval is called an ovoid.
A Philippine preschool room featuring the word "oblong" to refer to the oval.
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the animal hatches.
Eggs of various birds, a reptile, various cartilaginous fish, a cuttlefish and various butterflies and moths. (Click on image for key)
Six commercial eggs — view from the top against a white background
Salmon eggs in different stages of development. In some only a few cells grow on top of the yolk, in the lower right the blood vessels surround the yolk and in the upper left the black eyes are visible.
Diagram of a fish egg: A. vitelline membrane B. chorion C. yolk D. oil globule E. perivitelline space F. embryo
