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germ plasm

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noun
  1. the protoplasm of the germ cells containing the chromosomes.

Origin of germ plasm

First recorded in 1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for germ plasm

Historical Examples

  • Why should not this germ-plasm, this eternal ghost, be infinitely sophisticated?

    The Secret Life

    Elizabeth Bisland

  • The theory of germ-plasm gives no causal explanation whatever of them.

    The Wonders of Life

    Ernst Haeckel

  • The new view is, that instincts arise from variations in the germ-plasm.

    Homo-culture

    Martin Luther Holbrook

  • The explanation is, the germ-plasm was not in any way affected by the bodily mutilation.

    Homo-culture

    Martin Luther Holbrook

  • There is, therefore, continuity of the germ-plasm from one generation to another.

British Dictionary definitions for germ plasm

germ plasm

noun
    1. the part of a germ cell that contains hereditary material; the chromosomes and genes
    2. the germ cells collectivelyCompare somatoplasm
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
germ plasm in Medicine

germ plasm

n.
  1. The cytoplasm of a germ cell, especially that part containing the chromosomes.
  2. Germ cells as distinguished from other body cells.
  3. Hereditary material; genes.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.