Wiktionary:Word of the day/2022/February 8

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Word of the day
for February 8
gemmule n
  1. (biology)
    1. (archaic) Synonym of gemma (“an asexual reproductive structure, as found in animals such as hydra (genus Hydra) and plants such as liverworts (division Marchantiophyta), consisting of a cluster of cells from which a new individual can develop”)
      1. (specifically, zoology) A small gemma or bud of dormant embryonic cells produced by some freshwater sponges (phylum Porifera) that develops into a new sponge.
    2. (historical) In the obsolete theory of pangenesis propounded by the English scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882): a hypothetical particle once thought to be the basis of heredity.
  2. (botany) Synonym of plumule (“the first bud, or growing point, of a plant embryo, situated above the cotyledons”)
  3. (neurology) Synonym of dendritic spine (“a small membranous protrusion from the dendrite of a neuron that typically receives input from a single axon at the synapse”)
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