gemma

See also: Gemma

English

Gemmae on a leaf tip of Syntrichia papillosa

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin gemma (“bud on a plant”). Doublet of gem and Gemma.

Noun

gemma (plural gemmas or gemmae)

1. (biology) 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 new individuals can develop; a bud.

   Synonym: (archaic) gemmule

   • 1969, Rudolf Mathias Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume 1, Columbia University Press, page 527:

     I know of no other genera with such intramarginal formation of true gemmae.

   • 1990, Anthony John Edwin Smith, The Liverworts of Britain and Ireland, page 2:

     Gemmae are frequently longer than wide or of irregular shape.
     According to Degenkolbe, gemmae-bearing leaves are always different in form from normal leaves.

   • 2005, R. N. Chopra, Biology of Bryophytes, page 32:

     In Marchantia polymorpha, high temperature promotes germination of gemmae (Dacknowski, 1907), and heat absorbed by the gemmae accelerates their germination (Fitting, 1942).

Derived terms

• gemmal
• gemmoid

Translations

asexual reproductive structure

• Bulgarian: пъпка (bg) f (pǎpka)
• Galician: xema (gl) f
• Georgian: კოკორი (ḳoḳori), კვირტი (ḳvirṭi)
• Hungarian: sarjadzik (hu)

Anagrams

• Megam

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin gemma.

Noun

gemma f (plural gemmes)

1. gem, jewel

Further reading

• “gemma” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Interlingua

Noun

gemma (plural gemmas)

1. gem

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛm.ma/
• Rhymes: -ɛmma
• Hyphenation: gèm‧ma

Etymology 1

From Latin gemma.

Noun

gemma f (plural gemme)

1. (botany) bud
2. gem, jewel
3. (figuratively) gem (precious or highly valued thing or person)

Related terms

• gemmare
• ingemmare

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

gemma

1. inflection of gemmare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• gemma in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• gamme

Latin

Etymology

Unknown. Possibilities include:

• Cognate with Proto-Slavic *zębnǫti and Lithuanian žémbėti, both meaning “to germinate, sprout”, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵemb- or *ǵeb- (“to bud, sprout”), though such a root would be irregular for PIE;
• From Proto-Indo-European *ǵembʰ- (“nail, tooth”), despite the semantic gap;
• From Proto-Italic *gen- (“to produce”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-; compare gignō and genus;
• A non-Indo-European substrate source. The unusual form of the word, the lack of clear cognates and the semantic category of the word make this hypothesis likely.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡem.ma/, [ˈɡɛmːä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒem.ma/, [ˈd͡ʒɛmːä]

Noun

gemma f (genitive gemmae); first declension

1. A bud or eye of a plant.
2. A gem, gemstone, jewel, precious stone.
3. A thing made of precious stones.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gemma	gemmae
Genitive	gemmae	gemmārum
Dative	gemmae	gemmīs
Accusative	gemmam	gemmās
Ablative	gemmā	gemmīs
Vocative	gemma	gemmae

Derived terms

• gemmārius
• gemmātus
• gemmeus
• gemmifer
• gemmō
• gemmula

Descendants

• Asturian: xema, ema
• Catalan: gemma
• French: gemme
• Galician: xema
• Italian: gemma
• Portuguese: gema
• Romanian: gemă
• → Russian: гемма (gemma)
• Spanish: yema, gema
  • → Asturian: yema
  • → Cebuano: yema
• → Proto-West Germanic: *gimmu (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “gemma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gemma”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• gemma in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• gemma in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the trees are budding: gemmae proveniunt
    
• “gemma”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “gemma”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin