parthenogenesis

noun

1. (countable, uncountable, usually)Referring to various aspects of asexual reproduction:

   “Scientists say the birth is the second confirmed instance of a shark being conceived by parthenogenesis, a process in which an unfertilised egg develops into a new individual.”

2. (uncountable, usually)Referring to various aspects of asexual reproduction:

   “An all female race, the asari reproduce through a form of parthenogenesis. Each asari can attune her nervous system to that of another individual of any gender, and of any species, to reproduce. This capability has led to unseemly and inaccurate rumors about asari promiscuity.”

   “As an “all-female” humanoid species not bound to the traditional forms of mating, in that they reproduce through a form of telepathic parthenogenesis, the design of the Asari collapses boundaries of sex and sexuality. The Asari are a species rendered as Other, even in comparison to the various beings populating the gameworld.”

3. (countable, uncountable, usually)figurative uses of the biological senses
4. (uncountable, usually)Virgin birth, in reference to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.

   “So one might reasonably be led to hold, for instance, that the parthenogenesis of Christ does not beget faith in Christ […]”

   “His theology offers four objections on dogmatic grounds commonly adduced by contemporary Protestant criticism to cast doubt on Mary’s parthenogenesis.”

   “Christ’s parthenogenesis exalts woman.”