germ

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See also: Germ, germ., and Germ.

English

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Etymology

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From Middle French germe, from Latin germen (bud, seed, embryo). Doublet of germen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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germ (plural germs)

  1. (biology) The small mass of cells from which a new organism develops; a seed, bud, spore, or zygote.
    1. The embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.
    2. (biology) The small mass of cells from which a part of an organism develops, or a macroscopic but immature form of that part; a bud.
      Coordinate term: vesicle
      Derived terms: germectomy
      surgical removal of germs of wisdom teeth
  2. A pathogen: a pathogenic microorganism, such as a bacterium or virus.
    • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Stolen Bacillus:
      'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the microscope, 'is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera - the cholera germ.'
  3. (figurative) The origin or earliest version of an idea or project.
    the germ of civil liberty
  4. (mathematics) An equivalence class that includes a specified function defined in an open neighborhood.

Derived terms

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terms derived from germ (noun)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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germ (third-person singular simple present germs, present participle germing, simple past and past participle germed)

  1. To germinate.
    • 1909, Thomas Hardy, The Flirt's Tragedy:
      Thus tempted, the lust to avenge me / Germed inly and grew.
  2. (slang) To grow, as if parasitic.

See also

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Further reading

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Northern Kurdish

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Etymology

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From Proto-Iranian *garmáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *gʰarmás, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰor-mó-s. Cognate with Persian گرم (garm) and English warm.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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germ (comparative germtir, superlative germtirîn)

  1. warm

Derived terms

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Zazaki

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Etymology

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From Proto-Iranian *garmáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *gʰarmás, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰor-mó-s. Cognate with Persian گرم (garm) and English warm.

Adjective

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germ

  1. warm

Derived terms

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