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Today it means

germinate

to begin to grow

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Where does the word "germinate" come from? It comes from Latin germinare, and was adopted directly into English (1580s).

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Where does the word "germinate" come from? It comes from Latin germinare, and was adopted directly into English (1580s).

Germinate’s story begins in Latin: germinare meant “to sprout.” From 'germen', seed, the root of 'germ'. It reached English by 1580s as germinate. 'germ' as microbe dates from the 1800s. Today, germinate means to begin to grow.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient germinare "to sprout", from 'germen', seed, the root of 'germ'.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1580s germinate "to sprout", 'germ' as microbe dates from the 1800s.

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