anlage

[ahn-lah-guh]

noun, plural an·la·gen [ahn-lah-guh n] /ˈɑn lɑ gən/, an·la·ges. (sometimes initial capital letter)

Embryology. an embryonic area capable of forming a structure: the primordium, germ, or bud.

Psychology. an inherited predisposition to certain traits or to a particular character development.

Origin of anlage

1890–95; < German Anlage foundation, basis, as noun derivative of anlegen to lay on or out, apply, equivalent to an- on + legen to lay¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for anlagen

Historical Examples of anlagen

There are pleasant walks by the Rhine, beautiful Anlagen, a picturesque old tower, and the site of Gutenberg's house to see.
A War-time Journal, Germany 1914 and German Travel Notes
Harriet Julia Jephson

British Dictionary definitions for anlagen

anlage

noun plural -gen (-ɡən) or -ges

another word for primordium

Word Origin for anlage

German: predisposition, layout

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

Word Origin and History for anlagen

anlage

"basis of a later development" (plural anlagen), 1892, from German anlage "foundation, basis," from anlagen (v.) "to establish," from an "on" + legen "to lay" (see lay (v.)).

anlagen in Medicine

anlage

n. pl. an•la•ges

The initial clustering of embryonic cells from which a part or an organ develops; primordium.

A genetic predisposition to a given trait or personality characteristic.