germinate Definition

germinate
verb germinated, germinating

intr
1. biol.
Said of a seed or spore: to show the first signs of development into a new individual.
Thesaurus: bud, sprout, grow, generate, develop, shoot, swell, vegetate.
2a. To make (a seed, an idea, etc) begin to grow;
intr
2b. To come into being or existence.

Derivative: germination
noun

The first stages in the development of an embryo into a seedling, involving the emergence of the radicle (sense 1) and plumule (sense 1) from the seed.

Etymology: 17c: from Latin germinare, germinatum.