germ
/dʒɜːm/ (bre, ipa) · /dʒɜːrm/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈjərm/ (ame, mw)
germ — 名詞
- germsingular
- germsplural
1. one of the tiny organisms, like bacteria or viruses, that can get into a living
病菌
引起疾病的微生物
one of the tiny organisms, like bacteria or viruses, that can get into a living body and cause illness or infection.
Harper always washes her hands thoroughly after gardening to kill any germs.
Harper 在整理花園後總是徹底洗手，以殺死任何病菌。
collocation: kill germs / spread germs
The nurse explained that harmful germs can enter the body through a tiny cut on the skin.
護理師解釋說，有害的病菌可以透過皮膚上的微小傷口進入體內。
Vinícius wiped the kitchen counter with bleach to get rid of dangerous germs.
Vinícius 用漂白水擦拭廚房檯面，以清除危險的病菌。
Eri caught a stomach bug because germs were spreading fast around her school dormitory.
Eri 得了腸胃型感冒，因為病菌在她學校宿舍裡快速傳播。
- microbe
more technical/scientific term for any microscopic organism, including non-disease-causing ones
- bacterium
specific type of germ; a single-celled organism, not a virus
- virus
specific type of germ; smaller than bacteria, needs a host cell to multiply
- bug
informal, very common in everyday English ('I caught a bug')
用法筆記
Usually appears in the plural form 'germs'. The singular is rare in everyday speech about illness — 'a germ' sounds more like a biology-class example than something a doctor would say.
常見錯誤
2. the very first small sign or early stage of an idea, feeling, or quality that la
萌芽；起源
事物發展的初期開端
the very first small sign or early stage of an idea, feeling, or quality that later develops into something bigger or more important.
A brief chat with an elderly woman on a bus planted the germ of her novel.
在公車上與一位老婦人的短暫對話，為她的小說埋下了萌芽的種子。
fixed phrase: germ of an idea
Lucía spotted the germ of a good business plan scribbled in her brother's notebook.
Lucía 在她哥哥的筆記本塗鴉中，發現了一個不錯的商業計畫雛形。
That one suspicious email planted the germ of doubt in Zayd's mind about the job offer.
那封可疑的 email 在 Zayd 心中埋下了對這份工作機會的懷疑種子。
The professor saw the germ of a brilliant theory hidden in her student's messy notes.
教授從學生的凌亂筆記中，看到了一個絕妙理論的雛形。
- final form
the fully developed product or idea
文法句型
the germ of [something]
用法筆記
Always used in the singular with 'of': 'the germ of an idea / a plan / doubt / truth'. The noun following 'germ of' must be abstract — never use it with concrete objects.
常見錯誤
3. a small living structure inside a plant or animal — such as a seed's embryo or a
胚；胚芽
能發育成新生物的細胞結構
a small living structure inside a plant or animal — such as a seed's embryo or a reproductive cell — that is capable of growing into a new organism or developing into a specific body part.
Wheat germ, the nutrient-rich heart of the wheat seed, is often sprinkled onto breakfast cereal for extra vitamins.
小麥胚芽——小麥種子營養最豐富的核心——經常灑在早餐麥片上以補充維生素。
compound noun: wheat germ
Baraka examined how germ cells divide and multiply during the earliest stages of an embryo's development.
Baraka 觀察了生殖細胞在胚胎發育最早期階段如何分裂與增殖。
term: germ cells
The tiny germ inside a bean seed already contains all the information needed to grow into a tall plant.
一顆豆子種子內部的微小胚芽，早已含有長成一株高大植物所需的所有資訊。
Researchers are studying how the three germ layers form during the first weeks of human development.
研究人員正在探討三種胚層在人類發育最初幾週是如何形成的。
用法筆記
This is the original biological sense from which the other meanings of 'germ' developed. In modern biology, it appears in compound terms like 'wheat germ', 'germ cell', 'germ layer', and 'germ line'. Unlike sense 1, it does NOT refer to disease or illness.