Germ Meaning
/d͡ʒɜːm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe small mass of cells from which a new organism develops; a seed, bud, spore, or zygote.
nounThe small mass of cells from which a new organism develops; a seed, bud, spore, or zygote., The embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.
Sentence Examples
Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.
Antibodies work by attaching themselves to an invading germ.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor found a dangerous ____ in the patient's blood sample.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Even a single ____ can cause a serious infection if it enters a person's body through an open wound.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French germe, from Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”). Doublet of germen.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the microscope, 'is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera - the cholera germ.'"
— 1895, H. G. Wells, The Stolen Bacillus:
"Now all his ponderings, however excursive, wheeled round Isabel as their center; and back to her they came again from every excursion; and again derived some new, small germs for wonderment."
— 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:
"What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth? - the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires."
— 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:
"Thus tempted, the lust to avenge me / Germed inly and grew."
— 1909, Thomas Hardy, The Flirt's Tragedy:
"I’m addicted, want to germ inside your love"
— 2011, Black Eyed Peas, Just Can't Get Enough:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor found a dangerous ____ in the patient's blood sample.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Even a single ____ can cause a serious infection if it enters a person's body through an open wound.