Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - spore

 I. noun  Etymology: New Latin spora seed, ~, from Greek, act of sowing, seed, from speirein to sow — more at sperm  Date: 1836 a primitive usually unicellular often environmentally resistant dormant or reproductive body produced by plants, fungi, and some microorganisms and capable of development into a new individual either directly or after fusion with another ~  • ~d adjective  II. intransitive verb  (~d; sporing)  Date: 1866 to produce or reproduce by ~s