gemmule
Botany. gemma (def. 2).
Zoology. an asexually produced mass of cells that is capable of developing into an animal, as a freshwater sponge.
Evolution. one of the hypothetical living units conceived by Darwin in the theory of pangenesis as the bearers of the hereditary attributes.
Origin of gemmule
1Words Nearby gemmule
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use gemmule in a sentence
The gemmule-spicules, which are usually numerous, are slender.
Freshwater Sponges, Hydroids & Polyzoa | Nelson AnnandaleWe can easily conceive a being so small, that a gemmule would be to it as large as St. Paul's would be to us.
On the Genesis of Species | St. George MivartThe terminal growing bud of the axis is called the plumule or gemmule (g), and represents the ascending axis.
Any part of a gemmule would be an impossible (because a less than possible) quantity.
On the Genesis of Species | St. George MivartAs a theory the gemmule plot is just as good and just as bad scientifically as Weismann's.
The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation | Austin O'Malley
British Dictionary definitions for gemmule
/ (ˈdʒɛmjuːl) /
zoology a cell or mass of cells produced asexually by sponges and developing into a new individual; bud
botany a small gemma
a small hereditary particle postulated by Darwin in his theory of pangenesis
Origin of gemmule
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for gemmule
[ jĕm′yōōl ]
A small gemma or similar structure, especially a reproductive structure in some sponges that remains dormant through the winter and later develops into a new individual.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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