English
gemmule
Gemmule comes from Latin gemmula ‘small bud’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgemma‘bud of a plant’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgemmula‘small bud’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgemmule
- Englishearliest quotation 1849same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgemma‘bud of a plant’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgemmula‘small bud’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgemmule
- Englishearliest quotation 1849same form
Earliest quotation: 1849, William Henry Harvey, The Microscopic Wonders of the Sea: “A very similar mode of growth and propagation is…”
The story
Borrowed from French gemmule, from Latin gemmula (‘small bud; small gem’), from gemma (‘bud of a plant; gem, jewel; thing made of precious stones’) (further etymology uncertain; possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (‘to beget, give birth; to produce’), but see further at that entry) + -ula (feminine form of -ulus (diminutive suffix)).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’
kind, general, king, nature, nation, engine, german, native, generation, pregnant, gender, ken, genuine, genetic, genius, gene, oxygen, indigenous, genre, hydrogen, naive, gentle, genocide, kin, noel, genus, innate, natal, genital, nee, nativity, ingenious, nada, nascent, naïve, janata, germ, puny, gentile, cognate, 115 more
through Latin gemma ‘bud of a plant’
Today it means
noun 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”)
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / gemmule