germen

See also: gérmen

English

Etymology

From Latin germen (germ, seed). Doublet of germ.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

germen (plural germens or germina)

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

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

From earlier *genmen via dissimilation, from Proto-Italic *genamen, 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). Compare with genimen.

Pronunciation

Noun

germen n (genitive germinis); third declension

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

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative germen germina
Genitive germinis germinum
Dative germinī germinibus
Accusative germen germina
Ablative germine germinibus
Vocative germen germina

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Catalan: germen
  • English: germ, germen
  • French: germe
  • Galician: xerme, xermolo
  • Italian: germe
  • Occitan: gèrme
  • Portuguese: germe
  • Romanian: germen
  • Spanish: germen

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.
  1. “gens”; in: Jacqueline Picoche, Jean-Claude Rolland, Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris 2009, Dictionnaires Le Robert, →ISBN

Romanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin germen.

Noun

germen m (plural germeni)

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

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin germen (germ, seed).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈxeɾmen/ [ˈxeɾ.mẽn]
  • Rhymes: -eɾmen
  • Syllabification: ger‧men

Noun

germen m (plural gérmenes)

  1. germen
  2. microbe, microorganism
  3. (figurative) seed, origin

Further reading

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