germen

Etymology

From Latin germen (“germ, seed”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɜː.mən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɝ.mən/
• Homophone: German
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mən

Noun

germen (plural germens)

1. The basic form of an organism; the seed or germ

Anagrams

• Mergen

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁mn̥ (“offspring”, “seed”), from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”, “to give birth”).^[1] Equivalent to gignō (“I beget”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix). Confer with genimen.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡer.men/, [ˈɡɛr.mẽ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒer.men/

Noun

germen n (genitive germinis); third declension

1. shoot, sprout, bud
2. germ, seed, origin
3. embryo, fetus

References

• germen in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• germen in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• germen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Alternative forms

• germene

Etymology

From Latin germen.

Noun

germen m (plural germeni)

1. embryo
2. (biology) seed, germ (small mass of cells from which an organism grows)
3. germ
4. principle, element, component

Etymology

From Latin germen (“germ, seed”).

Noun

germen m (plural gérmenes)

1. germen
2. microbe, microorganism