germ

See also: Germ, germ., and Germ.

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɜːm/
• (General American) enPR: jûrm, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɝm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m

Noun

germ (plural germs)

2. (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

4. 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.'

6. (figurative) The origin or earliest version of an idea or project.

   the germ of civil liberty

   • 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:

     Now all his ponderings, however excursive, wheeled round Isabel as their center; and back to her they came again from every excursion; and again derived some new, small germs for wonderment.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:

     What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth? - the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.

8. (mathematics) An equivalence class that includes a specified function defined in an open neighborhood.

Derived terms

terms derived from germ (noun)

• antigerm
• apical germ pore
• degerm
• dysgerminoma
• epithelial germ
• germband
• germ cell
• germ-free
• germ history
• germicidal
• germicide
• germinal
• germination
• germinative
• germinoma
• germ layer
• germless
• germlike
• germline
• germling
• germogen
• germophobe
• germophobia
• germophobic
• germ-plasm, germ plasm
• germ pore
• germproof
• germ-ridden
• germ theory
• germ theory of disease
• germ tube
• germule
• germ warfare
• germy
• multigerm
• pangermist
• wheat germ

Related terms

• german
• germane
• germen
• germinate
• germination

Descendants

• → Tok Pisin: jem

Translations

mass of cells

Arabic: رُشَيْم m (rušaym) Belarusian: заро́дак (be) m (zaródak), эмбрыён m (embryjón) Bulgarian: ембрио́н (bg) m (embrión), заро́диш (bg) m (zaródiš) Burmese: မျိုး (my) (myui:) Catalan: germen (ca) m Czech: zárodek (cs) m Dutch: kiem (nl) m Esperanto: ĝermo (eo) Finnish: itiö (fi) French: germe (fr) m Galician: xerme (gl) m Georgian: ჩანასახი (čanasaxi), ემბრიონი (embrioni) German: Keim (de) m Greek: μικρόβιο (el) n (mikróvio) Hindi: रोगाणु m (rogāṇu), कीटाणु (hi) m (kīṭāṇu) Hungarian: csíra (hu) Indonesian: kuman (id) Italian: germe (it) m Japanese: 胚芽 (ja) (はいが, haiga) Khmer: ជីវាណូ (ciivaanou), ពីជៈ (piicĕəʼ) Korean: 배아(胚芽) (ko) (baea) Portuguese: germe (pt) m Romanian: microb (ro) m, germen (ro) m Russian: заро́дыш (ru) m (zaródyš), зача́ток (ru) m (začátok), эмбрио́н (ru) m (embrión) Slovak: klíček m Spanish: germen (es) m Swedish: mikrob (sv) c Tagalog: binhay Ukrainian: заро́док m (zaródok), ембріо́н m (embrión), зача́ток m (začátok) Vietnamese: mộng (vi), mầm (vi)

pathogenic microorganism

Arabic: جُرْثُومَة (ar) f (jurṯūma) Hijazi Arabic: جرثومة f (jarṯūma, jurṯūma) Assamese: বীজাণু (bizanu) Belarusian: мікро́б m (mikrób) Bulgarian: микро́б (bg) m (mikrób) Burmese: ပိုး (my) (pui:) Catalan: germen (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 細菌 / 细菌 (zh) (xìjūn), 菌 (zh) (jūn) Czech: bakterie (cs) f, mikrob (cs) m, choroboplodný zárodek m Dutch: kiem (nl) m Esperanto: mikrobo Finnish: mikrobi (fi) French: germe (fr) m Galician: xerme (gl) m Georgian: მიკრობი (ka) (miḳrobi) German: Keim (de) m Greek: μικρόβιο (el) n (mikróvio) Hindi: रोगाणु m (rogāṇu) Hungarian: csíra (hu), kórokozó (hu) Icelandic: sýkill (is) m Indonesian: kuman (id) Italian: microbo (it) m, germe (it) m Japanese: 細菌 (ja) (さいきん, saikin) Kannada: ರೋಗಾಣು (kn) (rōgāṇu) Khmer: ក្រមី (km) (krɑməy) Korean: 세균(細菌) (ko) (segyun) Lao: ເຊື້ອ (sư̄a), ຕົວພະຍາດ (tūa pha nyāt), ແມ່ພະຍາດ (mǣ pha nyāt), ເຊື້ອໂລກ (sư̄a lōk) Luxembourgish: Keim m Malay: kuman (ms) Maori: kitakita, moroiti tahumaero Mongolian: Cyrillic: нян (mn) (njan) Nepali: किटाणु (ne) (kiṭāṇu) Persian: جرم (fa) (jerm) Polish: zarazek (pl) m, mikrob (pl) m, bakcyl (pl) m Portuguese: germe (pt) m Romanian: germen (ro) m, microb (ro) m Russian: микро́б (ru) m (mikrób) Spanish: germen (es) m Swahili: kijidudu Swedish: mikrob (sv) c Tagalog: mikrobyo, kagaw Thai: เชื้อ (th) (chʉ́ʉa), เชื้อโรค (th) (chʉ́ʉa-rôok) Tibetan: ནད་འབུ (nad 'bu) Ukrainian: мікро́б m (mikrób) Vietnamese: vi khuẩn (vi) (微菌), vi trùng (vi) (微蟲)

idea

Catalan: germen (ca) m Czech: zárodek (cs) m, počátek (cs) m Dutch: kiem (nl) m Finnish: siemen (fi) French: germe (fr) m Galician: xerme (gl) m Georgian: ჩანასახი (čanasaxi) Hungarian: csíra (hu) Japanese: 芽生え (ja) (めばえ, mebae) Polish: zalążek (pl) m Portuguese: germe (pt) m Romanian: germen (ro) m, cauză (ro) f, sămânță (ro) f Russian: зача́ток (ru) m (začátok) Swedish: frö (sv) n

embryo of a seed

Asturian: xerme m Belarusian: за́вязь f (závjazʹ) Catalan: germen (ca) m Finnish: alkio (fi) Galician: xerme (gl) m Georgian: ბუტკო (buṭḳo) Portuguese: germe (pt) m Romanian: germen (ro) m, embrion (ro) m Russian: за́вязь (ru) f (závjazʹ) Spanish: germen (es) m Ukrainian: за́в'язь f (závʺjazʹ) Vietnamese: mầm (vi)

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

Translations to be checked

Mandarin: (please verify) 毒菌 (zh)

Verb

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.
   • 2011, Black Eyed Peas, Just Can't Get Enough:

     I’m addicted, want to germ inside your love

See also

• bacteria
• microbe
• parasite
• virus

Further reading

• “germ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “germ”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

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

• Rhymes: -ɛɾm

Adjective

germ (comparative germtir, superlative germtirîn)

1. warm

Derived terms

• germahî

Zazaki

Etymology

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

germ

1. warm

Derived terms

• germey
• germin
• germın