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Showing results for germinal. Search instead for Retainal.
Synonyms

germinal

1 American  
[jur-muh-nl] / ˈdʒɜr mə nl /

adjective

  1. being in the earliest stage of development.

    germinal ideas.

  2. of or relating to a germ or germs.

  3. of the nature of a germ or germ cell.

Germinal 2 American  
[jur-muh-nl, zher-mee-nal] / ˈdʒɜr mə nl, ʒɛr miˈnal /

noun

  1. (in the French Revolutionary calendar) the seventh month of the year, extending from March 21 to April 19.

  2. (italics) a novel (1884) by Émile Zola.

germinal 1 British  
/ ˈdʒɜːmɪnəl /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or like germs or a germ cell

  2. of, or in the earliest stage of development; embryonic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Germinal 2 British  
/ ʒɛrminal /

noun

  1. the month of buds: the seventh month of the French revolutionary calendar, from March 22 to April 20

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • germinally adverb
  • nongerminal adjective
  • subgerminal adjective
  • subgerminally adverb

Etymology

Origin of germinal1

First recorded in 1800–10; from French or directly from Latin germin- (stem of germen “sprout, bud”; germ ) + -al 1

Origin of Germinal2

From French; germinal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.