Meaning

Synonym of gemma (“an asexual reproductive structure, as found in animals such as hydra (genus Hydra) and plants such as liverworts (division Marchantiophyta), consisting of a cluster of cells from which a new individual can develop”).

Definitions by Sense

1. Synonym of gemma (“an asexual reproductive structure, as found in animals such as hydra (genus Hydra) and plants such as liverworts (division Marchantiophyta), consisting of a cluster of cells from which a new individual can develop”)
2. In the obsolete theory of pangenesis propounded by the English scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882): a hypothetical particle once thought to be the basis of heredity.
3. (botany) Synonym of plumule (“the first bud, or growing point, of a plant embryo, situated above the cotyledons”).
4. (neurology) Synonym of dendritic spine (“a small membranous protrusion from the dendrite of a neuron that typically receives input from a single axon at the synapse”).

Example Sentences

A very similar mode of growth and propagation is found among the compound Polypes, whose gemmules, like those of the Medusæ, are at first free, and moved by cilia; afterwards attached, and budding forth with a plant-like body.

Accidental hematozoa may be found, […] in the vessels of man and other animals; these are foreign to the blood, and do not circulate with it. The hydatid, acephalocystis endogena, detaches its gemmules from its inner surface; one thus inclosing the other in a series, like pill-boxes. It is found in the liver, kidney, womb, etc.

They [spores and tetraspores] may rather be considered, the one a true spore, supposed to be fertilized by means of an antheridium; the other, a mere gemmule, or bud of the simplest possible structure, which is cast off by the parent plant, and carries with it sufficient vitality to become the nucleus of a fresh individual.

The gemmules of the Marchantia [a genus of liverworts] are little disc-shaped masses of cells composed of two or more layers.

The ova [of the brown hydra, Hydra oligactis, formerly Hydra fusca] covered with a horny substance possess a great power of resistance to the cold, thus preserving their vitality until the return of conditions favorable for their existence, when development begins to take place. This proceeds up to a certain point, the covering of the ovum bursting, liberates the embryo, which becomes ciliated, and for some time swims freely in the water; in this condition it is known as a "gemmule."

[…] I assume that cells, before their conversion into completely passive or "formed material," throw off minute granules or atoms, which circulate freely throughout the system, and when supplied with proper nutriment multiply by self-division, subsequently becoming developed into cells like those from which they were derived. These granules for the sake of distinctness may be called cell-gemmules, or, as the cellular theory is not fully established, simply gemmules. […] Their development is supposed to depend on their union with other partially developed cells or gemmules which precede them in the regular course of growth. […] Lastly, I assume that the gemmules in their dormant state have a mutual affinity for each other, leading to their aggregation either into buds or into the sexual elements.

Word Forms

• gemmules

Synonyms for gemmule

Related Words

When Should You Use Gemmule?

Use gemmule when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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