gemmulen.
/ˈdʒɛmjuːl/, U.S. /ˈdʒɛˌm(j)ul/ 1. Botany.
a. = plumule n.
ΚΠ
1844 R. D. Hoblyn Dict. Terms Med. & Collateral Sci. (ed. 2) Gemmule, a term used synonymously with plumule, the growing point of the embryo in plants.
1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. i. iv. 344 Thus we distinguish three parts in the embryo, corresponding to the root, stem, and leaves of the perfect plant; namely, a radicle, plumule or gemmule, and one or more cotyledons.
b. One of the reproductive cells of cryptogams.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > spore or sporule > cryptogam or plant having spores > [noun] > parts of > cells > reproductive cell or gamete
gemmule1874
1874 M. C. Cooke Fungi 55 Short germinating utricles shoot forth, which soon form themselves into rows of gemmules.
c. (See quot.)
ΚΠ
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 394/2 From the other end of the perikaryon,..there arises a series of one or more short, repeatedly branching filaments, called dendrites... At the ends of the dendrites are small enlargements called gemmules.
2. Zoology. A small gem (see gem n.1 5) or gemma; spec. a ciliated embryo of one of the Cœlenterata; an encysted mass of sponge-particles, from which new ones are produced. In Darwin's theory of pangenesis, one of the hypothetical units conceived of as capable of reproducing the part from which it is thrown off.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > bodies or parts > [noun] > bud generating individual
gem1832
bud1836
gemmule1844
gemma1851
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > [noun] > parts of > plumule or rudimentary shoot
spirec1374
springa1400
sprout?1548
plume1578
spear1647
germen1651
acrospire1675
sprit1682
mistressa1722
plumula1727
plumule1727
plumelet1783
gemmule1844
stem-bud1877
epicotyl1880
1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. xv. 560 In this state it [sc. the ovum]..is termed a gemmule.
1845 Zoologist 3 955 This cell, or germ, or gemmule, is the origin of all existing animals.
1858 T. R. Jones Aquarian Naturalist 34 These yellow granules are the rudiments of the eggs, or gemmules of the sponge.
1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man I. viii. 280 According to this hypothesis, every unit or cell of the body throws off gemmules or undeveloped atoms.
1875 Contemp. Rev. 27 90 We cannot understand how colloid bodies, such as the Pangenetic gemmules must be, could pass freely through membranes.
1877 C. W. Thomson Voy. ‘Challenger’ I. iii. 176 Small examples of the sponge, some of them not much beyond the condition of gemmules.
1913 Q. Rev. Oct. 376 No one now accepts Darwin's theory of gemmules or pangenesis.
1952 C. P. Blacker Eugenics: Galton & After ii. 45 According to this provisional hypothesis,..the cells of the body throw off minute particles called gemmules which circulate freely throughout the blood-stream and multiply there.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1844