germ

UK/d͡ʒɜːm//d͡ʒɝm/

germ noun: the embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.

Noun (1)

germ (plural germs)

The embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.
The small mass of cells from which a part of an organism develops, or a macroscopic but immature form of that part; a bud.
- surgical removal of germs of wisdom teeth
A pathogen: a pathogenic microorganism, such as a bacterium or virus.
- 'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the microscope, 'is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera - the cholera germ.'1895, H. G. Wells, The Stolen Bacillus
(figuratively) The origin or earliest version of an idea or project.
- the germ of civil liberty
- Now all his ponderings, however excursive, wheeled round Isabel as their center; and back to her they came again from every excursion; and again derived some new, small germs for wonderment.1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities
An equivalence class that includes a specified function defined in an open neighborhood.

Verb

germ (third-person singular simple present germs, present participle germing, simple past and past participle germed)

To germinate.
- Thus tempted, the lust to avenge me / Germed inly and grew.1909, Thomas Hardy, The Flirt's Tragedy
(slang) To grow, as if parasitic.
- I’m addicted, want to germ inside your love2011, Black Eyed Peas, Just Can't Get Enough

Noun (2) capitalized: Germ

Germ (plural Germs)

(UK, derogatory, slang) a German person.

germ meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

germ in Hindi

mass of cells: रोगाणु rogāṇu, कीटाणु kīṭāṇu
pathogenic microorganism: रोगाणु rogāṇu

germ in Tamil

germ, pathogen: கிருமி kirumi

germ in Urdu

germ: جرثومہ jursūma

germ in Bengali

germ: বীজ bij

More languagesFewer languages

germ in Telugu: మొలక molaka, అంకురము aṅkuramu, మొక్క mokka
germ in Malayalam: സൂക്ഷ്മജീവി, രോഗാണു
germ in Kannada: ರೋಗಾಣು rōgāṇu
germ in Punjabi: ਰੋਗਾਣੂ rogāṇū
germ in Assamese: বীজাণু bizanu
germ in Nepali: किटाणु kiṭāṇu
germ in Tagalog: binhay, mikrobyo, kagaw
germ in Arabic: رُشَيْم rušaym, جُرْثُومَة jurṯūma
germ in Malay: kuman
germ in Indonesian: kuman
germ in Persian: جرم jerm
germ in Thai: เชื้อ chʉ́ʉa, เชื้อโรค chʉ́ʉa-rôok
germ in Vietnamese: mộng, mầm, vi khuẩn, vi trùng
germ in Myanmar: မျိုး myui:, ပိုး pui:

Examples of germ in a sentence

The reverend doctor will enlighten us with a lecture on the germ theory.
Remove everyday germs and neutralise cooking odours with our antibacterial handwash.
Germ plasm and idioplasm are forms of plasmogen.

All 40 example sentences with germ

Forms of germ

Noun
plural	germs
plural	Germs
Verb
third-person singular present	germs
present participle	germing
past participle	germed
past	germed

Plural of germ: germs

Origin of germ

From Middle French germe, from Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”). Doublet of germen.

Clipping of German, from the phonetic similarity to germ.

Words formed from germ

Phrases with germ

Words that rhyme with germ

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about germ

What does germ mean?: Germ means the embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.
What is germ in Hindi?: Germ in Hindi is रोगाणु (rogāṇu), कीटाणु (kīṭāṇu). See Germ meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is germ?: Germ can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce germ?: Germ is pronounced /d͡ʒɜːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of germ?: The plural of germ is germs.

Words near germ in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-germ.ogg, En-au-Germ.ogg.

Cite this entry: “germ.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/germ. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.