germen

American  

[jur-muhn] / ˈdʒɜr mən /

noun

Archaic.

plural

germens, germina

1. a germ.

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germen British  

/ ˈdʒɜːmən /

noun

1. rare biology the mass of undifferentiated cells that gives rise to the germ cells

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Etymology

Origin of germen

From Latin, dating back to 1595–1605; see origin at germ

Example Sentences

Originem Gothicam historiam fecit esse Romanam, colligens quasi in unam coronam germen floridum quod per librorum campos passim fuerat ante dispersum.'

From The Letters of Cassiodorus Being A Condensed Translation Of The Variae Epistolae Of Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator by Hodgkin, Thomas

"In P. farinosa the germen is broadly obovate and the stigma capitate; here the germen is globose and the stigma has five points."

From Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers Describing the Most Desirable Plants, for Borders, Rockeries, and Shrubberies. by Wood, John

The germen afterwards becomes a large, oblong, fleshy fruit, of a fine yellow colour, and containing a flat seed covered with a woolly substance.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous

The pistil is generally divisible into the ovary or germen, the style and the stigma.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles

The species attack the flowers and anthers of composite and polygonaceous plants, the leaves, culms, and germen of grasses, &c., and are popularly known as “smuts.”

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)