germ B2 Topic:Describing Qualities US /d͡ʒɝm/ UK /d͡ʒɜːm/ See IPA manual Freq #19636 Meanings 1 noun A very small living thing that can cause disease, such as a bacterium or virus. Wash your hands to avoid spreading germs. 2 noun The first small beginning of an idea or plan. A casual chat contained the germ of their business idea. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a very small living thing... microbe 2 noun · the first small beginning... seedsource Word family Forms germinalgerms Derived forms antigermdegermdysgerminomagerm-freegerm-plasmgerm-riddengermbandgermicidalgermicidegerminalgerminationgerminative Related forms bacteriagermangermanegermengerminategerminationmicrobeparasitevirus Common collocations germ pore Noun + noun Etymology AI details From Middle French germe, from Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”). Doublet of germen. *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European germe Middle French germen Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # germ **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /d͡ʒɝm/ **IPA (UK):** /d͡ʒɜːm/ **Frequency rank:** 19636 ## Meanings 1. A very small living thing that can cause disease, such as a bacterium or virus. 2. The first small beginning of an idea or plan. ## Examples - Wash your hands to avoid spreading germs. - A casual chat contained the germ of their business idea. ## Derived Forms - antigerm - degerm - dysgerminoma - germ-free - germ-plasm - germ-ridden - germband - germicidal - germicide - germinal - germination - germinative ## Related Forms - bacteria - german - germane - germen - germinate - germination - microbe - parasite - virus ## Roots and Affixes - Root: *ǵenh₁- - Root: germe - Root: germen ## Etymology From Middle French germe, from Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”). Doublet of germen. ## AI Etymology Germ comes from Middle French germe, from Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”). Doublet of germen. In current use, the main senses are “A very small living thing that can cause disease, such as a bacterium or virus” and “The first small beginning of an idea or plan”. ## Topics - Describing Qualities markdown