(1):
(n.) That from which anything springs; origin; first principle; as, the germ of civil liberty.
(2):
(v. i.) To germinate.
(3):
(n.) That which is to develop a new individual; as, the germ of a fetus, of a plant or flower, and the like; the earliest form under which an organism appears.
(4):
(n.) The germ cells, collectively, as distinguished from the somatic cells, or soma. Germ is often used in place of germinal to form phrases; as, germ area, germ disc, germ membrane, germ nucleus, germ sac, etc.