germen

American  

[jur-muhn] / ˈdʒɜr mən /

noun

Archaic.

plural

germens, germina

1. a germ.

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germen British  

/ ˈdʒɜːmən /

noun

1. rare biology the mass of undifferentiated cells that gives rise to the germ cells

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Etymology

Origin of germen

From Latin, dating back to 1595–1605; germ

Example Sentences

The pistil is generally divisible into the ovary or germen, the style and the stigma.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles

The species attack the flowers and anthers of composite and polygonaceous plants, the leaves, culms, and germen of grasses, &c., and are popularly known as “smuts.”

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)

Mr. Berkeley found no difficulty, and had the stem impregnated as well as the germen.

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)

But the stamens, being shorter than the germen, cannot discharge the pollen so as to throw it upon the stigma, as the flower stands always upright till after impregnation.

From The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Poe, Edgar Allan

Mr. Fairbairn, to whose abilities and industry the Companies Garden at Chelsea is indebted for its present flourishing state, being desirous of obtaining ripe seeds, I had no opportunity of examining the germen.

From The Botanical Magazine, Vol. 4 Or, Flower-Garden Displayed by Curtis, William