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)
- (biology) The basic form of an organism; the seed or germ.
Anagrams
- Mergen
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *genmen, 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/, [ˈɡɛrmɛn]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒer.men/, [ˈd͡ʒɛrmen]
Noun
germen n (genitive germinis); third declension
- shoot, sprout, bud
- germ, seed, origin
- 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
- germānus
- germinascō
- germinō
Related terms
- germinātiō
- germinātus
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
- “gens”; in: Jacqueline Picoche, Jean-Claude Rolland, Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris 2009, Dictionnaires Le Robert, →ISBN
Romanian
Alternative forms
- germene
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin germen.
Noun
germen m (plural germeni)
- embryo
- Synonym: embrion
- (biology) seed, germ (small mass of cells from which an organism grows)
- germ
- Synonym: microb
- principle, element, component
- Synonyms: principiu, element
Declension
Declension of germen
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) germen | germenul | (niște) germeni | germenii |
genitive/dative | (unui) germen | germenului | (unor) germeni | germenilor |
vocative | germenule | germenilor |
Related terms
- germina
- germinare
- germinat
- germinabil
- germinabilitate
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin germen (“germ, seed”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈxeɾmen/ [ˈxeɾ.mẽn]
- Rhymes: -eɾmen
- Syllabification: ger‧men
Noun
germen m (plural gérmenes)
- germen
- microbe, microorganism
- (figuratively) seed, origin
Further reading
- “germen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014