Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Germ |
GermNoun1. Anything that provides inspiration for later work. 2. A small simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism. 3. A minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "germ" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Etymology: Germ \Germ\, noun. [French germe, from Latin germen, germinis, sprout, but, germ. Compare to Germen, Germane.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
19th Century Satire | A bit of animal life living in water. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Germ is an informal term for a disease-causing organism, particularly bacteria (as in germ warfare). The word is not to be confused with the term from developmental biology (as in wheat germ).One of the first people to postulate the presence of some kind of disease causing substance was Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor, practicing in an obstetrics ward in the 1840s. He noticed that the death rate of the impoverished women attended by the nurse midwives was many times less than that of the wealthier women attended by the doctors. His observations led him to conclude that it was a matter of cleanliness. The doctors, on their schedules, went directly from the morgue to the obstetrics ward without wash their hands. When he tried to present his findings to his fellow doctors, they discounted his theory, unable to believe in what they could not see. It wasn't until the 1880s and the work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister that the truth of germs finally surfaced and was accepted by the scientific community.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Germ (mathematics)."
Synonyms: GermSynonyms: bug (n), microbe (n), seed (n), source (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Beginning | Origin; (cause); source, rise; bud, germ; egg, rudiment; genesis, primogenesis, birth, nativity, cradle, infancy; start, inception, creation, starting point; dawn; (morning); evolution. |
Cause | Rudiment. egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm. |
Nonpreparation | Rough copy; (plan); germ; raw material. |
Plan | System; (order); organization; (arrangement); germ; (cause). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | My team is way ahead of the weather machine and germ warfare divisions (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) That's not a lobster bib Eleanore its a germ protector for your tushey (Eight Crazy Nights; writing credit: Brooks Arthur; Allen Covert) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Soapy the Germ Fighter (1951) A Jolt for General Germ (1930) Ko-Ko's Germ Jam (1928) Germ Mania (1927) The Germ (1923) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | A technique called in situ hybridization shows whether a gene is actively expressed in cells, and also provides clues to the gene's function. This technique has helped identify activated oncogenes in cancer cells, and their normal counterparts in normal cells, in many different species. In this photograph, a labeled DNA segment (a known oncogene) has been put into a mouse oocyte, a cell that develops into a mature egg cell. The labeled DNA has paired with (or hybridized to) multiple copies of RNA in the mouse oocyte. The presence of this RNA (shown here as black dots inside the nucleus of the immature cell) shows that the normal cellular counterpart of the oncogene is active, suggesting that it is critical for normal germ cell development. Expression of genes is manifested by the production of RNA transcripts within cells. Hybridization histochemistry (in situ hybridization) permits localization of these transcripts with cellular or greater resolution. Furthermore, the relative amounts of transcripts detected within different tissues or the same tissues under different states (e.g., physiological or developmental) may be quantified. See artwork: GA-17. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | Candida albicans showing germ tube production in serum. Gram stain. Credit: CDC. |
 | The germ may spread. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
T. D. English | Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | A virus is a germ that causes sickness. (references) | |
The decay will not spread because it is sealed off from its food and germ supply. (references) | ||
The Shigella germ is actually a family of bacteria that can cause diarrhea in humans. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | This quality is the germ of all education in him. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Germ" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.10% of the time. "Germ" is used about 154 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 96.1% | 148 | 25,903 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 1.3% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 1.3% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Unclassified Items | 0.65% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.65% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 154 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "germ": Disease germ ♦ germ carrier ♦ Germ cell ♦ germ cell tumors ♦ germ cells ♦ germ free ♦ Germ gland ♦ germ layer ♦ Germ Layers ♦ germ of the wheat grain ♦ Germ plasm ♦ Germ stock ♦ Germ theory ♦ germ war ♦ germ warfare ♦ in germ ♦ Tooth Germ ♦ wheat germ ♦ Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate ♦ Wheat Germ Agglutinins. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "germ": germ-cell, germ-cell, germ-cells, germ-factory, germ-fighting, germ-free, Germ-Free Life, germ-killing, germ-laden, Germ-Line, Germ-Line Mutation, germ-plasm, germ-proof, germ-ridden. | |
Ending with "germ": wheat-germ. | |
Containing "germ": non-germ-line. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "germ"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | syth (bud, eye, gemma, leaf bud, mesh, shoot, stitch), mikrob (microbe, virus), mbin (gemmate, germinate, sprout), fillesë (origin, threading), farë (egg, embryo, pip, seed, semen, sort, spawn, species, sperm), embrion (egg, embryo, fetus, foetus, seed leaf). (various references) | |
Arabic | ميكروب (microbe), نذرة, جرثومة (embryo, microbe, sperm, taint, virus), أصل (ancestry, beginning, birth, derivation, descent, extraction, genealogy, genesis, ingrain, origin, parent, parentage, paternity, pedigree, principle, provenance, provenience, race, rise, root, seed, source, stock, strain, taproot), بذرة (grain, kernel, pip, seed, seedling, sowing, sperm, spore). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | развивам се (come round, flower, grow, progress, quicken, roll off, run out, shape up, turn out), микроб (microbe), зародиш (embryo, fetus, foetus, nucleus, seed), зачатък (rudiment), ембрион (fetus, foetus), бацил (bacillus), покълвам (germinate, sprout), плодна пъпка. (various references) | |
Chinese | 菌 (bacteria, dish, mold, mushroom, vegetables), 細菌 (bacterial, virus), '菌. (various references) | |
Czech | zárodek (embryo, foetus), kel (tusk), bakterie, bacil (bacillus, bug). (various references) | |
Danish | plantekim (embryo, germ cell, seedling), kimplante (embryo, germ cell, seedling, set, young plant), kim (embryo, germ cell, nucleus, seedling), embryo (embryo). (various references) | |
Dutch | microbe (microbe), kiem (embryo, germ cell, nucleus, precursor, seed, seedling). (various references) | |
Esperanto | mikrobo (microbe), ĝermo. (various references) | |
Farsi | میکرب (Microbe), منشاء (Fountain, Parent, Paternity, Provenance, Source), جنین (Chrysalis), اصل (Element, Genuine, Inception, Maxim, Mother, Motif, Paternity, Point, Principle, Provenance, Quintessence, Real, Root, Stem, Strain), ریشه (Pedigree, Stem, Stub, Tassel, Theme). (various references) | |
Finnish | sirkkataimi (embryo, germ cell, seedling), siemen (grain, pip, seed), itu (shoot, sprout), alkio (embryo), aihe (cause, motif, reason, subject, theme, topic). (various references) | |
French | germe (germ cell), microbe. (various references) | |
German | Keim (bud, embryo, germinal, seed, shoot, spear, sprout), Bazillus (bacillus, bug, microbe). (various references) | |
Greek | σπέρμα (seed, semen, sperm), μικρόβιο (bacillus, bacterium, bug, microbe, virus). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מקור (fount, fountain, nib, origin, parent, resource, resources, root, seed, source, well, wellspring), עובר (embryo, fetus, foetus), חי"ק (animalcule, bacillus, microbe), זרע (corn, offspring, seed, semen, sperm), ב' (spore, sprout), בט (blast, bud, sprout). (various references) | |
Hungarian | csíra (chit, embryo, ovum, rudiment, seed, spore, sprout), baktérium (bacteria, bacterium, microbe, wog). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kuman (bacillus, maggot, microbe), bibit (cause, prospective, seed, seedling), benih (cause, embryo, origin, seed, semen). (various references) | |
Italian | germe (bug, seed). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 細菌 (bacillus, bacterium). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | き" (a little, bacillus, bacterium, ban, be equal to, be fit for, bedding, cloth, gold, gold general, napkin, prohibition, quilt, serve, small quantity, unit of weight ~600g), びょうき" (virus), びょう'"き" (virus), さいき" (bacillus, bacterium, latest, most recent, nowadays, reappointment, slight flaw), ばいき" (bacteria), で"せ"どく (virus), ほうが (bud, donation, germination, imperial carriage, Japanese film, respectful congratulations, sign, sprout), ようが (leaf bud, positiveimage, Western paintings), はいが (briefly drawn picture, congratulations, embryo bud, haiku picture). (various references) | |
Korean | 세 (bacteriologic, Bacteriological, microbe). (various references) | |
Manx | giennag, foghan (blade, blade of corn, breward, grass, grass), young herbage), bunniag. (various references) | |
Norwegian | spire, bakterie. (various references) | |
Papiamen | mikrobio (microbe). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ermgay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | germe (embryo, rudiment, rudiments), micróbio (microbe), embrião (bud, chit, embryo, rudiment, rudiments). (various references) | |
Romanian | germina (germinate, sprout), germene (nucleus), spor (abundance, addition, advancement, benefit, gain, growth, headway, increase, increment, progress, spore, use), plod (baby, dandiprat, embryo, seed), nucleu (core, kernel, nucleus), muguri, microbian (microbial), microb (microbe, virus), embrion (embryo), bacteriologic (bacteriological), bacterie (bacteria, bug), înmuguri (bud, burgeon, shoot, sprout), început (beginning, commencement, dawn, dayspring, entrance, first, go off, head, head line, inchoation, lead off, morning, opening, outset, setting in, source, spring, start, starter, starting), începe sã încolţeascã. (various references) | |
Russian | микроб (microbe). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zametak (embryo), uroditi plodom, mikrob (microbe), klica. (various references) | |
Spanish | germen (seed). (various references) | |
Swedish | grodd (braird, sprout), embryo (embryo), brodd (calk, calkin, crampon, rough, Spike, sprout), bakterie (bacteria, bacterium, bug, microbe). (various references) | |
Thai | เชื้อโรค, เซลล์สืบพันธุ์ (gamete). (various references) | |
Turkish | virüs (virus), tohum (germinal, legume, ovum, seed, seminal, spermo-), mikrop (germinal, microbe, microorganism), filizlenmek (bud, burgeon, germinate, pullulate, shoot, shoot forth, shoot out, sprout), bakteri (bacterial, bacterium), bakterí (bacterium, microbe), çimlenmek (germinate, pullulate, sprout). (various references) | |
Turkmen | mikrob (r) (microbe). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | зародок (corcle, dawn, egg, embryo, fetus, nucleus, primordium), зав'язь (ovary), ембріон (embryo, foetus), давати паростки (burgeon). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thai (fetus, foetus), phôi mầm bệnh, mầm (chit, chitty), mộng. (various references) | |
Welsh | hedyn (seed), eginyn (blade, sprout). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | germen, incrementa, incrementum. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | vaêjahi. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "germ": german, germander, germanders, germane, germanely, germanic, germanium, germaniums, germanization, germanizations, germanize, germanized, germanizes, germanizing, germans, germen, germens, germfree, germicidal, germicide, germicides, germier, germiest, germina, germinabilities, germinability, germinal, germinally, germinate, germinated, germinates, germinating, germination, germinations, germinative, germproof, germs, germy. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "germ": degerm, monogerm, multigerm. (additional references) | |
Words containing "germ": boogerman, boogermen, degermed, degerming, degerms, endangerment, endangerments, triggerman, triggermen, ungerminated. (additional references) | |
| |
"Germ" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: eerrmmm, egrim, erm, Er-mr, errm, errmm, Gairm, Gam, gamr, garam, geam, gearn, gebr, geert, ger, gera, gerb, gerc, gerd, gerg, geri, gerk, gerl, germa, germe, germu, germy, Gern, gerna, gero, gerp, gerr, gers, gert, geru, gery, gher, girm, girn, glern, goern, Gorj, gorme, gourm, gre, gream, grec, grem, Gremmo, gren, grer, grern, grn, gurn, Gvero, jerm, Jger, merm, verm, zerm. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "germ" (pronounced jer"m) |
| 2 | -er" m | affirm, berm, reaffirm, confirm, firm, Herm, infirm, reconfirm, sperm, squirm, term, therm, worm. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-g-m-r" | |
-1 letter: erg, gem, meg, reg, rem. | |
-2 letters: em, er, me, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-g-m-r" | |
+1 letter: gamer, germs, germy, grime, grume, marge, merge, regma. | |
+2 letters: begrim, bregma, degerm, emerge, emigre, engram, gamers, gamier, gammer, german, germen, gramme, gremmy, grimed, grimes, grumes, gummer, imager, maigre, malgre, manger, marges, mauger, maugre, meager, meagre, megrim, merged, merger, merges, mirage, monger, morgen, morgue, mugger, ragmen, regime, regnum, tergum. | |
+3 letters: armiger, begrime, begrims, damager, degerms, demerge, embargo, emerged, emerges, emigres, engrams, epigram, frogmen, fromage, gambier, gambler, gambrel, gammers, gammier, garment, gemmier, germane, germans, germens, germier, germina, gimpier, gisarme, gleamer, glimmer, glomera, glummer, gomeral, gomerel, gomeril, gourmet, grammes, gremial, gremlin, gremmie, grimace, grimier, grimmer, gripmen, grommet, groomed, groomer, grumble, grummer, grummet, grumose, grumped, gummers, gummier, gumtree, homager, imagers, imagery, immerge, impregn, kerygma, legroom, manager, mangers, mangier, mangler, marengo, margent, megabar, megrims, mergers, merging, metring, migrate, mingier, mingler, mirages, misgrew, mongers, mongrel, moorage, morgens, morgues, muggers, muggier, ogreism, perming, pregame, primage, ragtime, rampage, reaming, regimen, regimes, regmata, regroom, reimage, remerge, remiges, rummage, smugger, terming, umbrage. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
