WordWeb Online

1. Anything that provides inspiration for later work
   - source, seed
    
2. A small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism
    
3. A minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use
   - microbe, bug
    
4. (mathematics) an equivalence class of functions that are the same in a neighbourhood around a given point

Derived forms: germs

Type of: anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body part, inspiration, microorganism, micro-organism, structure

Encyclopedia: Germ, Hautes-Pyrénées