(noun. /jer-min-AY-shun/)
by Nicole Gadda
What does it mean?
Germination is the process of seeds or spores developing into actively growing plants or cells. Seeds are familiar to us from gardening and farming, and are produced by all flowering plants. Non-flowering plants (and other organisms like bacteria, fungi, and algae) reproduce with spores instead of seeds. Both seeds and spores are resilient and hardy; surviving extreme temperatures and environments that typically would kill growing organisms. When a seed or spore senses that the environment around them is hospitable for growth through the availability of water, light, and temperature, it will germinate into an actively growing plant, bacterial cell, algae, or fungus.
How do I use it in a sentence?
Seeds produced by plants before winter will germinate into actively growing plants again this spring, filling your garden with colorful daffodils, tulips, and geraniums.
Etymology
Originated in the mid-15th century. From the Latin word, germinationem, which means “a sprouting forth, budding.”
Related terms
Seed
Spore
Sprout
Seedling
Fields of study in which this word is commonly used
Plant biology
Farming/Agriculture
Ecology
Microbiology
Mycology
