germinate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to begin to grow or develop.
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Botany.
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to develop into a plant or individual, as a seed, spore, or bulb.
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to put forth shoots; sprout; pullulate.
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to come into existence; begin.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to develop; produce.
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to cause to come into existence; create.
verb
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to cause (seeds or spores) to sprout or (of seeds or spores) to sprout or form new tissue following increased metabolism
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to grow or cause to grow; develop
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to come or bring into existence; originate
the idea germinated with me
Other Word Forms
- germinable adjective
- germination noun
- germinator noun
- nongerminating adjective
- nongermination noun
- regerminate verb
- regermination noun
- ungerminated adjective
- ungerminating adjective
Etymology
Origin of germinate
1600–10; < Latin germinātus (past participle of germināre to sprout, bud), equivalent to germin- ( germinal ) + -ātus -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jumping straight into a list of major to-dos would leave little time for ideas to germinate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026
And getting certification is a rigorous, costly process, as seeds need to be tested in a laboratory for their purity and things like how well they germinate.
From BBC • Jul. 20, 2025
“Robot Dreams” was her first book, one that took its time to germinate.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2024
Across California and Arizona, there are stretches of desert that can quickly transform into dense fields of wildflowers, since seeds lie dormant in the soil and then germinate and blossom at around the same time.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 20, 2024
Seasonal changes of day length, temperature, and rainfall constitute signals that stimulate seeds to germinate, seedlings to grow, and mature plants to develop flowers, seeds, and fruit.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
