germen

See also: gérmen

English

Etymology

From Latin germen (“germ, seed”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɜː.mən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɝ.mən/
• Homophone: German
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mən

Noun

germen (plural germens)

1. The basic form of an organism; the seed or germ

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁mn̥ (“offspring”, “seed”), from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”, “to give birth”). Equivalent to gignō (“I beget”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix). Confer with genimen.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡer.men/, [ˈɡɛr.mẽ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒer.men/

Noun

germen n (genitive germinis); third declension

1. shoot, sprout, bud
2. germ, seed, origin
3. embryo, fetus

Inflection

Third declension neuter.

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

• English: germ, germen
• French: germe
• Italian: germe

• 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 Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)

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Romanian

Alternative forms

• germene

Etymology

From Latin germen.

Noun

germen m (plural germeni)

1. embryo
2. (biology) seed, germ (small mass of cells from which an organism grows)
3. germ
4. principle, element, component

Synonyms

• (1) embrion
• (3) microb
• (4) principiu, element

Related terms

• germina
• germinare
• germinat
• germinabil
• germinabilitate

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin germen (“germ, seed”).

Noun

germen m (plural gérmenes)

1. germen
2. microbe, microorganism