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Glite Dictionary
🌱 Able to grow 🌱 A sprouting seed
germinant

germinant

7.8
A seed or spore that is starting to grow
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɜːrmɪnənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : germinante
  • The gardener noticed the small germinants emerging from the soil after a week of planting.

Examples

  • Farmers often evaluate germinants to determine the best conditions for seed growth.

  • All necessary equipment is portable, and the germinants can easily be warmed with a small portable incubator or a hand warmer.

    Academic text (2006)

  • At 37°C, as germination time increased, more Bt spores became vegetative cells with any type of germinant.

    Academic text (2006)

  • L-alanine was used as a germinant during the study (data not shown) since it had been reported that L-alanine could initiate germination of B. anthracis (Ireland & Hanna, 2002).

    Academic text (2006)

  • After several days of moisture and warmth, the germinants started to sprout in the greenhouse.

Synonyms

sprout
vsgerminant
62 1.8

A young shoot on a plant that grows from a seed

is earlier and covers any seed, spore, or bud just starting to grow
seedling
vsgerminant
20 2.8

A young plant that grows from a seed before it has adult leaves

is an earlier stage when a seed, spore, or bud first begins growth

How Sprouted

seedling
20 2.8
sprout
62 1.8
germinant
  • Specialized
7.8

Surface Forms

germinant singular
germinants plural

Morphology

germinant = germinate (transparent) = germin + ant

The noun sense is a deverbal nominal use of 'germinate' + '-ant' meaning 'one/thing that is beginning to grow', which is directly inferable from the verb.

Etymology

Germinant comes from the root germin- meaning 'sprout', like in germinate. A germinant is a seed, spore, or bud that is beginning to grow.