germ

Definitions

From Latin germen, "seed, sprout, embryo" — a small living thing that grows. That single idea splits into the word's two everyday senses: the hopeful one (the germ of an idea = its seed) and the medical one (a germ = a tiny disease-causing organism that multiplies in the body).

Why It Means This

Why does one little word mean both "the start of an idea" and "a thing that makes you sick"? Because the Latin germen meant a seed — a tiny living thing that grows. In the 1800s, when scientists realized that invisible organisms multiply inside us and cause illness, they saw those microbes as "seeds of disease" and borrowed the word. So the hopeful germ (a seed of thought) and the unwelcome germ (a microbe) are the same image seen from two sides.

Common Collocations

• 1.spread germs传播细菌
• 2.kill germs杀菌
• 3.harmful germs有害的病菌
• 4.the germ of an idea想法的萌芽
• 5.germ cell生殖细胞

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Wash your hands to get rid of germs before eating.

• 2.

  That conversation planted the germ of a brilliant idea.

• 3.

  Cold germs spread quickly in a crowded office.

Easily Confused

germ vs bacteria vs virus — germ is the everyday, non-technical umbrella word for any microbe that makes you sick; it isn't used in precise science writing. bacteria and virus are the specific scientific terms (a virus isn't even technically alive). Say "germs" to a child; say "bacteria" or "virus" in a lab report.