gemmule

English

Etymology

Latin gemmula (“little bud”)

Noun

gemmule (plural gemmules)

1. (biology) A small gemma or bud of dormant embryonic cells produced by some freshwater sponges.

   1978 Patricia R. Bergquist, "Sponges"

   The actual formation of gemmules by fresh-water sponges is so clearly an adaptation to seasonal climatic changes, that at first it was reasonable to believe that seasonal alternation itself induced the gemmulation.

2. (obsolete) A hypothetical particle once thought to be the basis of heredity according to pangenesis theory.

Related terms

• gemmulation

References

• Oxford Dictionaries