English

Noun

germen ‎(plural germens)

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

Latin

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

Inflection

Third declension neuter.

Derived terms

• germānus
• germinascō
• germinō

Related terms

• germinātiō
• germinātus

Descendants

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
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “germen”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.

1. ↑ “gens”; in: Jacqueline Picoche, Jean-Claude Rolland, Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris 2009, Dictionnaires Le Robert, ISBN 978-2-84902-424-9

Romanian

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

Synonyms

• (1) embrion
• (3) microb
• (4) principiu, element

Related terms

• germina
• germinare
• germinat
• germinabil
• germinabilitate

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin germen ‎(“germ, seed”).

Noun

germen m ‎(plural gérmenes)

1. germen
2. microbe, microorganism