Vocabulary : Germ to Germanism
Germ : 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. ;; That from which anything springs; origin; first principle; as, the germ of civil liberty. ;; To germinate. ;; The germ cells, collectively, as distinguished from the somatic cells, or soma. Germ is often used in place of germinal to form phrases; as, germ area, germ disc, germ membrane, germ nucleus, germ sac, etc.Germ cell : A cell, of either sex, directly concerned in the production of a new organism.
Germ plasm : See Plasmogen, and Idioplasm.
Germ theory : The theory that living organisms can be produced only by the development of living germs. Cf. Biogenesis, Abiogenesis. ;; The theory which attributes contagious and infectious diseases, suppurative lesions, etc., to the agency of germs. The science of bacteriology was developed after this theory had been established.
Germain : See Germane.
