Dictionary

germinate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈd͡ʒɜː(ɹ)mɪneɪt/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From oblique stem of Latin germen, germinis (“shoot, sprout, bud”) + -ate, from germinātus (“sprouted, budded, grown”), past participle of germinō (“to sprout, bud, grow”), from germen, germinis (“shoot, sprout, bud”).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) Of a seed, to begin to grow, to sprout roots and leaves.
   • It would suffice to keep up the full number of a tree, which lived on an average for a thousand years, if a single seed were produced once in a thousand years, supposing that this seed were never destroyed, and could be ensured to germinate in a fitting place. So that in all cases, the average number of any animal or plant depends only indirectly on the number of its eggs or seeds. 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species:
   • the Chalcites, which hath a Spirit that will put forth and germinate 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
   • Orchids rely on fungi to reproduce. Their tiny seeds don't have any on-board nutrients (like beans and apples) and will not germinate until they are infected by a symbiotic fungus which supplies them with food. Known as a protocorm, this tiny orchid-fungus ball grows, turns green and eventually starts to photosynthesise. 2014 April 5, “Quite interesting: A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week; QI orchids you not”, in The Daily Telegraph (Weekend), page W22:
   • […] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew. 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 23 Dec 2014:
2. (transitive) To cause to grow; to produce.
   • These were business hours, and a feeling of loneliness crept over him, perhaps germinated by his sight of the illustrated papers, and accentuated by an attempted perusal of them. 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:

Forms

Deriveds

ungerminated · nongerminated · germinative · pregerminated · ungerminating · ingerminate · autogerminate · degerminator · regerminate

Relateds

germane · german · germ · germen · germination

Synonyms

ackerspyre

Translations (49)

cy egino (cause to grow) · bg пониквам (sprout or produce buds) · ba шытыу (sprout or produce buds) · tr bitmek (sprout or produce buds) · ar نَمَا (sprout or produce buds) · ka აღმოცენება (sprout or produce buds) · sv gro (sprout or produce buds) · got 𐌺𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽 (sprout or produce buds) · el βλαστάνω (sprout or produce buds) · it germinare (sprout or produce buds) · el φυτρώνω (sprout or produce buds) · ca germinar (sprout or produce buds) · cmn 形成 (cause to grow) · de keimen (sprout or produce buds) · ru прорастать (sprout or produce buds) · pl wykiełkować (sprout or produce buds) · et idanema (sprout or produce buds) · hu csíráztat (cause to grow) · cy egino (sprout or produce buds) · uk прорости́ (sprout or produce buds) · io jermifar (sprout or produce buds) · es germinar (sprout or produce buds) · is skjóta frjóöngum (sprout or produce buds) · bg покълвам (sprout or produce buds) · fi idättää (cause to grow) · is spíra (sprout or produce buds) · et tärkama (sprout or produce buds) · pl kiełkować (sprout or produce buds) · mi tinaku (sprout or produce buds) · ka გაღივება (sprout or produce buds) · fi itää (sprout or produce buds) · el ξεβλασταρώνω (sprout or produce buds) · tr filizlenmek (sprout or produce buds) · ru прорасти́ (sprout or produce buds) · az cücərmək (sprout or produce buds) · mi kahu (sprout or produce buds) · ka ამოსვლა (sprout or produce buds) · cmn 發芽 /发芽 (sprout or produce buds) · cmn 產生 /产生 (cause to grow) · la germinō (sprout or produce buds) · fr germer (sprout or produce buds) · no spire (sprout or produce buds) · et idandama (cause to grow) · uk пророста́ти (sprout or produce buds) · ro încolți (sprout or produce buds) · gl xermolar (sprout or produce buds) · gl xerminar (sprout or produce buds) · hu csírázik (sprout or produce buds) · ro germina (sprout or produce buds)