Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GERMINATE
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pronounce
GERMINATE:
Say it "JUR muh nate."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Our word germinate means to cultivate, to develop, to help grow.
We bumped into germinate recently when we were checking out the term mustard seed. Could you think of when some particular hope of yours was just a mustard seed--and how you were able to germinate it?
definition:
Our word "germ" traces back to a Latin one meaning "a bud, a sprout, a little offshoot."
If you talk about a germ of something, you mean it's a little teeny-tiny beginning of it, as if it's a little bud or sprout.
And something germinal is just beginning: it's just now starting to develop, and later it will be something important or influential. It's germinating.
Literally speaking, to germinate a seed is to make it start growing. And figuratively speaking, to germinate things is to help them grow and develop from something small into something large, important, or influential.
Things can germinate on their own, too: they can grow and develop on their own from something small into something large, important, or influential.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Verb, both the transitive kind ("The movie germinated the seed of her idea") and the intransitive kind ("The idea germinated within her mind").
Other forms:
Germinated, germinating, germination.
The adjective form is "germinal," and the adverb that goes with it is "germinally."
how to use it:
We talk literally about seeds, acorns, plants, and crops germinating. (Or, less pleasantly, spores or fungi germinating.)
And figuratively, when we're thinking about the people, places, ideas, events, and words that nourish things and help them grow, we talk about those things being germinated, or germinating on their own--like hopes, ideas, feelings, and creative projects.
examples:
"In the movie business, summer begins in May... all the trailers, teaser trailers, extended trailers, preview scenes, television spots, and pint-sized blips finally get to germinate into real, honest-to-goodness audience pleasers."
— Ross Miller, Kwame Opam, and Bryan Bishop, The Verge, 2 July 2015
"Kevin Sampson will launch the annual DC Black Film Festival, an idea he began germinating three years ago to gain visibility and commercial traction for 'quality films by people of African descent.'"
— Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 17 August 2017
has this page helped you understand "germinate"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "germinate" without saying "sprout" or "nourish."
try it out:
In an article titled "Playing with Wildfire: 5 Amazing Adaptations of Pyrophytic Plants," Britannica points out that some species need fire in order to germinate.
They explain:
"Some plants... have serotinous cones or fruits that are completely sealed with resin. These cones/fruits can only open to release their seeds after the heat of a fire has physically melted the resin."
Pretty neato.
What could it mean, metaphorically, if your idea were a seed that required fire to germinate?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for November is "SpongeBob Shakespeare."
Check out the goofy quote below. Is it from SpongeBob Squarepants, or is it a modern-English version of a quote from Shakespeare?
I'll list the answer at the bottom of each issue. Enjoy!
Try this one today:
"A five-letter word for happiness? ...Money."
review this word:
A. BUD and SPROUT.
B. KILL and TRAMPLE.
C. ABBREVIATE and SUMMARIZE.
2. To help your _____ germinate, you might buy some _____.
A. seeds .. grow lights
B. veggies .. sharp pruners
C. climbers .. tripods or trellises
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Our word germinate means to cultivate, to develop, to help grow.
Our word "germ" traces back to a Latin one meaning "a bud, a sprout, a little offshoot."
Part of speech:
We talk literally about seeds, acorns, plants, and crops germinating. (Or, less pleasantly, spores or fungi germinating.)
"In the movie business, summer begins in May... all the trailers, teaser trailers, extended trailers, preview scenes, television spots, and pint-sized blips finally get to germinate into real, honest-to-goodness audience pleasers."
Explain the meaning of "germinate" without saying "sprout" or "nourish."
In an article titled "Playing with Wildfire: 5 Amazing Adaptations of Pyrophytic Plants," Britannica points out that some species need fire in order to germinate.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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