Phrase guide

germ cell

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A cell that is part of the germ line: a gametocyte, an ovum or a sperm cell.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, cytology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a spermatozoon or an ovum; a cell responsible for transmitting DNA to the next generation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: reproductive cell, sex cell

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cell

Narrower terms: gamete

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 生殖細胞 /生殖细胞 (shēngzhí xìbāo) — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Czech: zárodečná buňka — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Finnish: itusolu — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • French: cellule germinale — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Icelandic: kynfruma — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Icelandic: kímfruma — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Japanese: 胚細胞 (haisaibō) — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Slovak: zárodočná bunka — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Swedish: könscell — a cell that is part of the germ line
  • Welsh: cell genhedlu — a cell that is part of the germ line