germe

Borrowed from Latin germen.

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛʁm/

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germe m (plural germes)

1. germ (small mass of cells)
2. seed
3. bulb (of onion, garlic etc.)
4. (figuratively) seed (the principle cause)

germe

1. first-person singular present indicative of germer
2. third-person singular present indicative of germer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of germer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of germer
5. second-person singular imperative of germer

• “germe” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Latin germen (“seed; origin”), from Proto-Italic *genamen, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁mn̥ (“offspring, seed”), derived from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to give birth, to beget”).
Cognate with Irish giniúint (“procreation, birth”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛr.me/, [ˈd͡ʒɛr̺me]
• Rhymes: -ɛrme
• Stress: gèrme
• Hyphenation: ger‧me

germe m (plural germi)

1. (biology) germ
2. (literary) seed, sprout
   • 1822, Alessandro Manzoni, “La Pentecoste [The Pentecost]”, in Inni sacri [Sacred Hymns]‎, collected in Opere varie di Alessandro Manzoni, Fratelli Rechiedei, lines 101–104, page 678:

     I doni tuoi benefica ¶ Nutra la tua virtude; ¶ Siccome il sol che schiude ¶ Dal pigro germe il fior

     May your benevolent virtue nourish your gifts, like the sun that opens the flower from the lazy sprout

3. (figuratively) seed, beginning, origin
   • (Can we date this quote?), Niccolò Tommaseo, Dolore e speranza [Sorrow and Hope], collected in Poesie di Niccolò Tommaseo, Successori Le Monnier, lines 21–24, page 196:

     Senz'affanni non germoglia ¶ Dell'onore il germe santo ¶ Seminai, Signor, nel pianto; ¶ Nella gioia mieterò.

     The holy seed of honor blossoms not without trials. I sowed, o Lord, in weeping; I shall reap in joy.

4. (figuratively, archaic) son, offspring
   • 16th century, Annibale Caro, transl., Eneide [Aeneid]‎, Florence: Leonardo Ciardetti, translation of Aeneis by Virgil, published 1827, Libro VI, page 270:

     […] la Sibilla ¶ A dir riprese: Enea, germe del cielo, ¶ Lo scender ne l'Averno è cosa agevole; ¶ Chè notte e dì ne sta l'entrata aperta

     the sibyl continued, "O Aeneas, son of the heavens, descending into the Avernus is easy, for its entrance is open night and day

5. (figuratively, archaic, rare) lineage, progeny

• merge

Borrowed from Latin germen.

germe m (plural germes)

1. seed (fertilized grain)

• gérmen (rare in the sense of microorganism, otherwise common)

From Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to bear”) + *-mn̥.

• (South Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʒɛɻ.me/

germe m (plural germes)

1. germ (embryo of a seed)
2. germ; microorganism
3. germ (idea that forms the basis of some project)

• (embryo of a seed): embrião
• (microorganism): microorganismo, micróbio
• (idea): origem, ideia

• (embryo of a seed): casca, pericarpo