germ Copy link Outline I. The embryo plant in a seedII. Fig.1. sēmen, ĭnis, n. (lit. seed)2. ĭnĭtium, prīmordium (rare in this sense in sing.) • germ: I. The embryo plant in a seed: perh. gemma (v. bud): or in scient. lang., germen, ĭnis, n. (in class. authors, that which springs from the seed: cf. Plin. 18, 10, 21). II. Fig.: the first principle of anything: 1. sēmen, ĭnis, n. (lit. seed): the g.s of all things, s. rerum, Lucr. 1, 60: as it were the first principles and g.s of virtue, initia quaedam ac s. virtutum, Quint. 2, 20, 6. 2. ĭnĭtium, prīmordium (rare in this sense in sing.): v. element.