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.
   2. The embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.
   4. (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
• germband
• germ cell
• germ-fear
• germ fear
• germ-free
• germicidal
• germicide
• germinal
• germination
• germinative
• germinoma
• germ layer
• germless
• germlike
• germline
• germling
• germogen
• germophobe
• 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 m
• Georgian: ჩანასახი (čanasaxi), ემბრიონი (embrioni)
• German: Keim (de) m
• Greek: μικρόβιο (el) n (mikróvio)
• 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 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
• 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
• 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 m
• Georgian: ჩანასახი (čanasaxi)
• Hungarian: csíra (hu)
• Japanese: 芽生え (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 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