adj. Of or pertaining to something very small, as small as a germ; pertaining to the essence of something.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
adj. Pertaining or belonging to a germ.
adj. Of or pertaining to the germ, or germ cells, as distinguished from the somatic cells.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Pertaining to or constituting a germ; of the nature of a germ or of germination; germinative: as, germinal; vesicles; germinal ideas or principles.
n. The seventh month of the French revolutionary calendar. It commenced (in 1794) March 21st and ended April 19th.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adj. containing seeds of later development
n. seventh month of the Revolutionary calendar (March and April); the month of buds
Word Usage
"But no sooner has one written the word germinal than one begins to experience the desire to peep ahead at the ending or, rather, to look in the beginnings for symptoms of the terminus."