germinant
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of germinant
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin germinant- (stem of germināns ), present participle of the verb germināre “to bud, sprout”
Explanation
Something germinant is just starting to grow or develop, such as a sprouting seed. More metaphorically, a budding romance could be described as germinant. The word germinant is derived from the Latin root germen, meaning "sprout" or "bud." As an adjective, it describes something that is just beginning to grow or emerge — a germinant seed, or germinant unrest among American colonists in the 1760s. As a noun, the word germinant refers to anything that causes or enables something to develop, as in "The bacteria produced spores after the introduction of a chemical germinant" or "Ignorance is the germinant of fear."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The number of c.f.u. present on plates in the presence of a particular germinant expressed as a fold change with respect to the number of c.f.u. present on plates in the absence of a germinant.
From Nature ● May 3, 2016
There was no statistically significant difference based on an unpaired t-test of each germinant condition against the no germinant condition.
From Nature ● May 3, 2016
There is something altogether unique in the incorruption and germinant power of all His deeds and of all His words.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture St. John Chapters I to XIV by Maclaren, Alexander
She began to feel blindly that God was not alone the keeper of eternal Sabbaths, but the germinant heat at the heart of the world.
From Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life by Brown, Alice
Thus there was developed a germinant municipal feeling and organization.
From Outline of Universal History by Fisher, George Park
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
