germinate

American  

[jur-muh-neyt] / ˈdʒɜr məˌneɪt /

verb (used without object)

germinated, germinating

1. to begin to grow or develop.

2. Botany.

   1. to develop into a plant or individual, as a seed, spore, or bulb.

   2. to put forth shoots; sprout; pullulate.

3. to come into existence; begin.

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verb (used with object)

germinated, germinating

1. to cause to develop; produce.

2. to cause to come into existence; create.

germinate British  

/ ˈdʒɜːmɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. to cause (seeds or spores) to sprout or (of seeds or spores) to sprout or form new tissue following increased metabolism

2. to grow or cause to grow; develop

3. to come or bring into existence; originate

   the idea germinated with me

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Other Word Forms

• germinable adjective
• germination noun
• germinator noun
• nongerminating adjective
• nongermination noun
• regerminate verb
• regermination noun
• ungerminated adjective
• ungerminating adjective

Etymology

Origin of germinate

1600–10; < Latin germinātus (past participle of germināre to sprout, bud), equivalent to germin- ( see germinal) + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

To germinate is to grow or to develop. When a tiny seedling cracks through a seed casing and sprouts, it has germinated. The term is used for other things too, like when an idea germinates into a film or book. Sometimes you want things to germinate, like the heirloom tomato seeds in your backyard garden. Sometimes what germinates is not desirable — like how joblessness, economic problems, and generations of anti-Semitism provided a fertile ground for Nazism to germinate in pre-war Germany. The word's roots are in botany, but it has grown, or dare we say germinated, to be used for any time something grows and develops.

Example Sentences

Jumping straight into a list of major to-dos would leave little time for ideas to germinate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

And getting certification is a rigorous, costly process, as seeds need to be tested in a laboratory for their purity and things like how well they germinate.

From BBC • Jul. 20, 2025

The seed bank has been recharged, she said, but that doesn’t mean those seeds will bloom in 2024; wildflower seeds can lie dormant for years before they germinate.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2024

One surprising finding was that the modifications to protect oil droplets did not have negative effects on plant growth or the ability of the seeds to germinate.

From Science Daily • Feb. 8, 2024

What seeds need to germinate: Seeds are inefficient.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Related Words

• sprout