germ theory en · NOUN
Meanings
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(uncountable) Synonym of germ theory of disease.
While people had no knowledge of modern germ theory in the year 1000, they were well aware of the contagiousness of diseases.
1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 122: