germe

Forms

germe m (plural germi)^[1] Old forms in the texts to 1375 are germe, gierme, giermo and zermo.^[2] An old and literary form germine was remade on the Latin stem germin-.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin gĕrmen (“sprout, offspring”), taken from the nominative.^[6][7][4][2] Zingarelli calls it learned.^[4] The Latin word gave French germe, Old Occitan germ and Portuguese germe, while Spanish germen came by learned transmission.^[8][9]

The Latin word is a dissimilated form of an older ⟨*gen-men⟩, as carmen is of ⟨*can-men⟩: it belongs to the root of gignō (“to beget”) and genus.^{[8][10][11][5]} Wiktionary sets up Proto-Italic *genamen and Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁mn̥ (“offspring, seed”), from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[1] The Latin verb germināre gave germinare, and Late Latin *germiniare gave germogliare.^[6][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Pietro da Bescapè, a Lombard poet, in 1274, with the sense of the seed or sprout of a plant.^[2] DELI's first record, from the 14th-century Libro di Sydrac, is for the first stage of an embryo.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant a seed or sprout, an animal or human embryo, and figuratively the first beginning of something that may grow.^[2] Petrarch used it figuratively in 1374, of the bright seed of virtue (il chiaro germe).^[6][13] From before 1420, in Saviozzo, it also meant offspring.^[6] In poetry it long kept the sense of a seed or bud.^[7][14]

The medical sense of a microorganism that carries disease is recorded from 1857, in Giovanni Rajberti, and is now the most common one, usually in the plural.^[6][7][3] Physics uses germe for the particle around which a vapour condenses or a liquid solidifies, and food science for the germ of cereals, as in germe di grano.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 1274 – Pietro da Bescapè uses the word.^[2]
• 14th century – The Libro di Sydrac uses it for an embryo.^[6]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses it figuratively for a beginning.^[6]
• Before 1420 – Saviozzo uses it for offspring.^[6]
• 1796 – Germinale, the month of the French republican calendar, is recorded.^[6]
• 1857 – Giovanni Rajberti uses it for a disease-causing microorganism.^[6][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A microorganism, especially one that carries disease, a germ (usually plural): Lavati le mani per non diffondere germi.^[7][15][3]
2. (biology) The first stage in the development of an embryo.^[7][15][3]
3. (botany) The germ of cereal grains, rich in nutrients, used in diet and pharmacy: olio di germe di grano.^[7][15][16]
4. (literary) A seed or sprout.^[7][15][4]
5. (figurative) The first cause or origin of something that can develop: il germe della discordia.^[7][15][3]
6. (literary, archaic) A son, a descendant.^[7][15][4]
7. (physics) A particle or electric charge around which molecules gather when a change of state begins.^[7][15][16]

Word family

• germinale
• germinare
• germinativo
• germinazione
• germinatoio
• germicida

Related words

• germoglio
• genere
• Latin germen
• French germe

Usage notes

In germe means “in embryo”, of something only sketched that has yet to take shape, and troncare in germe is to nip in the bud.^[15][17][5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 493
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 700
15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)