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That which is to develop a new individual; as, the germ of a fetus, of a plant or flower, and the like; the earliest form under which an organism appears. In the entire process in which a new being originates . . . two distinct classes of action participate; namely, the act of generation by which the germ is produced;…

A cell, of either sex, directly concerned in the production of a new organism.

See Plasmogen, and Idioplasm.

The theory that living organisms can be produced only by the development of living germs. Cf. Biogenesis, Abiogenesis.

See Germane.

Nearly related; closely akin. Wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion. Shak. Brother german. See Brother german. -- Cousins german. See the Note under Cousin.

A plant of the genus Teucrium (esp. Teucrium Chamædrys or wall germander), mintlike herbs and low shrubs. American germander, Teucrium Canadense. -- Germander chickweed, Veronica agrestis. -- Water germander, Teucrium Scordium. -- Wood germander, Teucrium Scorodonia.

r akin; hence, closely allied; appropriate or fitting; relevant. The phrase would be more germane to the matter. Shak. [An amendment] must be germane. Barclay (Digest).

Pertaining to, or containing, germanium.

An idiom of the German language.

A rare element, recently discovered (1885), in a silver ore (argyrodite) at Freiberg. It is a brittle, silver-white metal, chemically intermediate between the metals and nonmetals, resembles tin, and is in general identical with the predicted ekasilicon. Symbol Ge. Atomic weight 72.3.

The act of Germanizing. M. Arnold.

To make German, or like what is distinctively German; as, to Germanize a province, a language, a society.

An organ in which the ova are developed in certain Turbellaria.

See Germ.

Germicide.

Destructive to germs; -- applied to any agent which has a destructive action upon living germs, particularly bacteria, or bacterial germs, which are considered the cause of many infectious diseases. -- n.

Pertaining or belonging to a germ; as, the germinal vesicle. Germinal layers (Biol.), the two layers of cells, the ectoblast and entoblast, which form respectively the outer covering and inner wall of the gastrula. A third layer of cells, the mesoblast, which is formed later and lies between these two, is sometimes inc…

Sprouting; sending forth germs or buds.

to bud; to shoot; to begin to vegetate, as a plant or its seed; to begin to develop, as a germ. Bacon.