Meaning

noun anything that provides inspiration for later work

noun a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism

noun a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use

originFrom Middle French germe, from Latin germen (“bud, seed, embryo”). Doublet of germen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0