germ

[jurm]

noun

1. a microorganism, especially when disease-producing; microbe.

2. a bud, offshoot, or seed.

3. the rudiment of a living organism; an embryo in its early stages.

4. the initial stage in development or evolution, as a germ cell or ancestral form.

   Synonyms: seed, rudiment, bud, root, spark

5. something that serves as a source or initial stage for subsequent development.

   the germ of an idea.

adjective

1. Pathology.,  of, relating to, or caused by disease-producing germs.

germ

/ dʒɜːm /

noun

1. a microorganism, esp one that produces disease in animals or plants

2. (often plural) the rudimentary or initial form of something

   the germs of revolution

3. a simple structure, such as a fertilized egg, that is capable of developing into a complete organism

germ

1. A microscopic organism or agent, especially one that is pathogenic, such as a bacterium or virus.

Usage

The terms germ and microbe have been used to refer to invisible agents of disease since the nineteenth century, when scientists introduced the germ theory of disease, the idea that infections and contagious diseases are caused by microorganisms. Microbe, a shortening and alteration of microorganism, comes from the Greek prefix mikro–, “small,” and the word bios, “life.” Scientists no longer use the terms germ and microbe very much. Today they can usually identify the specific agents of disease, such as individual species of bacteria or viruses. To refer generally to agents of disease, they use the term pathogen, from the Greek pathos, “suffering,” and the suffix –gen, “producer.” They use microorganism to refer to any unicellular organism, whether disease-causing or not.

Other Word Forms

• germless adjective
• germlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of germ¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French germe < Latin germen shoot, sprout, by dissimilation from *genmen, equivalent to gen- ( genitor, genus ) + -men resultative noun suffix)

Word History and Origins

Origin of germ¹

C17: from French germe, from Latin germen sprig, bud, sprout, seed

Example Sentences

The Aztec emperor Montezuma, one could say, was dethroned not so much by Cortés as by Old World germs and New World enemies.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Perhaps, in human culture, and especially in the transmission of ideas through language, we have already created a new germ line, one that transcends individuals and even DNA.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

All tests that used animals to check for dangerous germs in medicine will also be done with cell and gene technologies, the government says.

Read more on BBC

Research shows that it has a higher germ concentration than a toilet seat.

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My mother deemed it unsanitary, lamenting that those infamous basins of water were filled with saliva and oral germs galore.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• antibody 
• bacterium 
• bug 
• disease 
• microbe 
• microorganism 
• pathogen 
• virus