The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ovulist \O"vu*list\, n. (Biol.) A believer in the theory (called encasement theory), current during the last century, that the egg was the real animal germ, and that at the time of fecundation the spermatozoa simply gave the impetus which caused the unfolding of the egg, in which all generations were inclosed one within the other. Also called ovist.
Wiktionary
n. (context historical English) One who believed that the complete human being was contained in the ovum rather than the sperm.
Usage examples of "ovist".
It was the legendary first work on Ovist Preformation and was banned by the church soon after its release.
If Ovist Preformation was true, they would be real people born too early.
To be fair, there were other preformationists called ovists, rather more numerous than the 'spermists', who believed that the adult was preformed in the egg rather than the sperm.