Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
GEMMULE
gemmule
(noun) the physically discrete element that Darwin proposed as responsible for heredity
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
gemmule (plural gemmules)
(biology) A small gemma or bud of dormant embryonic cells produced by some freshwater sponges.
(obsolete) A hypothetical particle once thought to be the basis of heredity according to pangenesis theory.
Source: Wiktionary
Gem"mule, n. Etym: [L. gemmula, dim. of gemma: cf. F. gemmule. See Gem.]
1. (Bot.) (a) A little leaf bud, as the plumule between the cotyledons. (b) One of the buds of mosses. (c) One of the reproductive spores of algæ. (d) An ovule.
2. (Biol.) (a) A bud produced in generation by gemmation. (b) One of the imaginary granules or atoms which, according to Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis, are continually being thrown off from every cell or unit, and circulate freely throughout the system, and when supplied with proper nutriment multiply by self-division and ultimately develop into cells like those from which they were derived. They are supposed to be transmitted from the parent to the offspring, but are often transmitted in a dormant state during many generations and are then developed. See Pangenesis.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
26 November 2024
TRANSPOSITION
(noun) (music) playing in a different key from the key intended; moving the pitch of a piece of music upwards or downwards
Coffee Trivia
