Germinate Meaning
/ˈd͡ʒɜː(ɹ)mɪneɪt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbOf a seed, to begin to grow, to sprout roots and leaves.
verbTo cause to grow; to produce.
Sentence Examples
The seed is beginning to germinate.
Seeds need germination operation to germinate.
Please, explain to me how to germinate Lophophora seeds.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Seeds need water and warmth to ____ and start growing properly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The seeds will not ____ unless they are provided with the right amount of moisture and a warm temperature.
Word Origin & History
From oblique stem of Latin germen, germinis (“shoot, sprout, bud”) + -ate, from germinātus (“sprouted, budded, grown”), past participle of germinō (“to sprout, bud, grow”), from germen, germinis (“shoot, sprout, bud”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"the Chalcites, which hath a Spirit that will put forth and germinate"
— 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
"It would suffice to keep up the full number of a tree, which lived on an average for a thousand years, if a single seed were produced once in a thousand years, supposing that this seed were never destroyed, and could be ensured to germinate in a fitting place. So that in all cases, the average number of any animal or plant depends only indirectly on the number of its eggs or seeds."
— 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species:
"Orchids rely on fungi to reproduce. Their tiny seeds don't have any on-board nutrients (like beans and apples) and will not germinate until they are infected by a symbiotic fungus which supplies them with food. Known as a protocorm, this tiny orchid-fungus ball grows, turns green and eventually starts to photosynthesise."
— 2014 April 5, “Quite interesting: A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week; QI orchids you not”, in The Daily Telegraph (Weekend), page W22:
"[…] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew."
— 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 23 Dec 2014:
"These were business hours, and a feeling of loneliness crept over him, perhaps germinated by his sight of the illustrated papers, and accentuated by an attempted perusal of them."
— 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Seeds need water and warmth to ____ and start growing properly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The seeds will not ____ unless they are provided with the right amount of moisture and a warm temperature.