|
Sponsored Links
The testicle (from Latin testiculus , diminutive of testis, meaning "witness" [of virility],[1] plural testes) is the male generative gland in animals. This article will concentrate on mammalian testicles unless otherwise noted. The etymology of the word is somewhat colorfully based on Roman law. The aforementioned Latin word "testis", witness, was used in the firmly established legal principle "Testis unus, testis nullus" (one witness [equals] no witness), meaning that testimony by any one person in court was to be disregarded unless corroborated by the testimony of at least another. This led to the common practice of producing two witnesses, bribed to testify the same way in cases of lawsuits with ulterior motives. Since such "witnesses" always came in pairs, the meaning was accordingly extended, often in the diminutive (testiculus, testiculi). After a while, it was reduced to a companion to the penis. Like the ovaries (to which they are homologous), testicles are components of both the reproductive system (being gonads) and the endocrine system (being endocrine glands). The respective functions of the testicles are; Both functions of the testicle, sperm-forming and endocrine, are under control of gonadotropic hormones produced by the anterior pituitary
|
Testicle Subcategories
Testicle Articles
|
|
