gemma

See also: Gemma

English

Gemmae on a leaf tip of Syntrichia papillosa

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin gemma (“bud on a plant”). Doublet of gem and Gemma.

Noun

gemma (plural gemmas or gemmae)

1. (biology) 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 new individuals can develop; a bud.

   Synonym: (archaic) gemmule

   • 1969, Rudolf Mathias Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume 1, Columbia University Press, page 527:

     I know of no other genera with such intramarginal formation of true gemmae.

   • 1990, Anthony John Edwin Smith, The Liverworts of Britain and Ireland, page 2:

     Gemmae are frequently longer than wide or of irregular shape.
     According to Degenkolbe, gemmae-bearing leaves are always different in form from normal leaves.

   • 2005, R. N. Chopra, Biology of Bryophytes, page 32:

     In Marchantia polymorpha, high temperature promotes germination of gemmae (Dacknowski, 1907), and heat absorbed by the gemmae accelerates their germination (Fitting, 1942).

Derived terms

• gemmaceous
• gemmal
• gemmation
• gemmiform
• gemmiparous
• gemmoid
• spermatogemma

Translations

asexual reproductive structure

• Bulgarian: пъпка (bg) f (păpka)
• Galician: xema (gl) f
• Georgian: კოკორი (ḳoḳori), კვირტი (ḳvirṭi)
• Hungarian: sarjadzik (hu)
• Polish: rozmnóżka f

Anagrams

• Megam

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• geh ma

Etymology

First person plural of geh + ma (unstressed form of first person plural nominative mia). Literally, “go we”.

Pronunciation

• • IPA^(key): /ˈɡ̊ɛmɐ/, /ˈɡ̊emɐ/

Verb

gemma

1. contraction of geh +‎ ma

Interjection

gemma

1. come on!, let's go!

   Gemma, gemma! Des schåff ma! ― Come on, let's go! We can do this!

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin gemma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈʒe̞m.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈʒɛm.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒem.ma]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈʒem.ma]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

gemma f (plural gemmes)

1. gem, jewel
2. (botany) bud
3. (biology) gemma

Further reading

• “gemma”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Interlingua

Noun

gemma (plural gemmas)

1. gem

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛm.ma/
• Rhymes: -ɛmma
• Hyphenation: gèm‧ma

Etymology 1

From Latin gemma.

Noun

gemma f (plural gemme)

1. (botany) bud
2. gem, jewel
3. (figurative) gem (precious or highly valued thing or person)

Related terms

• gemmare
• ingemmare

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

gemma

1. inflection of gemmare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “gemma”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• gamme

Latin

Etymology

Unknown. Possibilities include:

• Cognate with Proto-Slavic *zębnǫti and Lithuanian žémbėti, both meaning “to germinate, sprout”, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵemb- or *ǵeb- (“to bud, sprout”), though such a root would be irregular for PIE;
• From Proto-Indo-European *ǵembʰ- (“nail, tooth”), despite the semantic gap. Compare, however, Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “claw, nail, hoof, talon, but also onyx (gem)”);
• From Proto-Italic *gen- (“to produce”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-; compare gignō and genus;
• A non-Indo-European substrate source. The unusual form of the word, the lack of clear cognates and the semantic category of the word make this hypothesis likely.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɡɛm.ma]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd͡ʒɛm.ma]

Noun

gemma f (genitive gemmae); first declension

1. A bud or eye of a plant.
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute 15.53:

     Itaque, ineunte vērē, in eīs quae relicta sunt exsistit — tamquam ad articulōs sarmentōrum — ea quae gemma dīcitur, ā quā oriēns ūvā sē ostendit […] .

     And so, at the start of spring, there emerges from those [parts of the vines] remaining — as if at the “joints” of the twigs — that which is called a bud, from which the emerging grape reveals itself.

2. A gem, gemstone, jewel, precious stone.
3. A thing made of precious stones.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	gemma	gemmae
genitive	gemmae	gemmārum
dative	gemmae	gemmīs
accusative	gemmam	gemmās
ablative	gemmā	gemmīs
vocative	gemma	gemmae

Derived terms

• gemmārius
• gemmātus
• gemmeus
• gemmifer
• gemmō
• gemmula

Descendants

• Asturian: xema, ema
• Catalan: gemma
• Danish: gemme
• French: gemme
  • → Romanian: gemă
• → English: gemma (learned)
• → Interlingua: gemma
• Italian: gemma
• → Russian: гемма (gemma)
• Old Galician-Portuguese: gema
  • Galician: xema
  • Portuguese: gema
• Old Spanish: yema
  • Spanish: yema
    • → Cebuano: yema
    • → Tagalog: yema
• → Spanish: gema (learned)
  • → Catalan: gema (dialectal, Castilianism)
• → Proto-West Germanic: *gimmu (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “gemma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gemma”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "gemma", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “gemma”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the trees are budding: gemmae proveniunt
    
• “gemma”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “gemma”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin