germ 
(jûrm)
(jûrm)n.
1. Biology A small mass of protoplasm or cells from which a new organism or one of its parts may develop.
2. The earliest form of an organism; a seed, bud, or spore.
3. A microorganism, especially a pathogen.
4. Something that may serve as the basis of further growth or development: the germ of a project.
[Middle English, bud, from Old French germe, from Latin germen; see genə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
- cutlass
- cutlassfish
- cutler
- cutlery
- cutlet
- cut loose
- cut losses
- cut no ice
- cut off
- cutoff
- cut-off
- cut off nose to spite face
- cut off nose to spite one's face
- cut off one's nose to spite face
- cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
- cut off one's nose to spite one's face
- cut (one's) losses
- cut one's losses
- cut (one's) teeth on
- cut one's teeth on
- cut out
- cutout
- cutover
- cutpurse
- cut-rate