GERM

microbe, bug, germ

(noun) a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use

germ

(noun) a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism

source, seed, germ

(noun) anything that provides inspiration for later work

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

Germ (plural Germs)

(UK, slang, derogatory) a German person.

Etymology

Noun

germ (plural germs)

(biology) The small mass of cells from which a new organism develops; a seed, bud or spore.

A pathogenic microorganism.

The embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.

(figurative) The origin of an idea or project.

(mathematics) An equivalence class that includes a specified function defined in an open neighborhood.

Verb

germ (third-person singular simple present germs, present participle germing, simple past and past participle germed)

To germinate.

(slang) To grow, as if parasitic.

Source: Wiktionary

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Germ, n. Etym: [F. germe, fr. L. germen, germinis, sprout, but, germ. Cf. Germen, Germane.]

1. (Biol.)

Definition: That which is to develop a new individual; as, the germ of a fetus, of a plant or flower, and the like; the earliest form under which an organism appears. In the entire process in which a new being originates . . . two distinct classes of action participate; namely, the act of generation by which the germ is produced; and the act of development, by which that germ is evolved into the complete organism. Carpenter.

2. That from which anything springs; origin; first principle; as, the germ of civil liberty. Disease germ (Biol.), a name applied to certain tiny bacterial organisms or their spores, such as Anthrax bacillus and the Micrococcus of fowl cholera, which have been demonstrated to be the cause of certain diseases. See Germ theory (bellow).

– Germ cell (Biol.), the germ, egg, spore, or cell from which the plant or animal arises. At one time a part of the body of the parent, it finally becomes detached,and by a process of multiplication and growth gives rise to a mass of cells, which ultimately form a new individual like the parent. See Ovum.

– Germ gland. (Anat.) See Gonad.

– Germ stock (Zoöl.), a special process on which buds are developed in certain animals. See Doliolum.

– Germ theory (Biol.), the theory that living organisms can be produced only by the evolution or development of living germs or seeds. See Biogenesis, and Abiogenesis. As applied to the origin of disease, the theory claims that the zymotic diseases are due to the rapid development and multiplication of various bacteria, the germs or spores of which are either contained in the organism itself, or transferred through the air or water. See Fermentation theory.

Germ, v. i.

Definition: To germinate. [R.] J. Morley.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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