germination

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act, process, or result of germinating; the evolution of a germ or seed; the formation of an embryo from an ovum.
• noun Specifically, in botany: The process of development of the embryo of a seed into a perfect plant. The conditions necessary for germination are the presence of moisture, free oxygen, as in atmospheric air, and warmth. Moisture softens the integuments of the seed and relaxes the tissues of the embryo, at the same time dissolving such nutrient matters in the seed as sugar, dextrine, etc., in readiness for their assimilation by the embryo. The absorption of oxygen is necessary for the chemical changes which always accompany growth. The degree of warmth needed to excite to action the vital forces of the plant varies in different species, some seeds, as those of wheat, being capable of germinating upon melting ice, while others require a temperature of over 60° F. During germination various chemical changes take place in the starch and other insoluble material stored up for the use of the embryo in the cotyledons or in the albumen of the seed, rendering them soluble and fit for assimilation, which changes are usually accompanied by an increase of temperature, as is seen in the process of malting. As an immediate result of the growing process thus excited and carried on in the seed, a root is produced which strikes downward, fixing itself in the soil and beginning to absorb thence nourishment for the new plant. At the same time the other extremity of the axis of growth is directed upward and develops a stem and leaves.
• noun The similar development of a plant from the spore in cryptogams.
• noun The early period of growth in a bud, as of a bulb or of a rhizome.
• noun The protrusion and growth of the pollen-tube from the pollen-grain.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The process of germinating; the beginning of vegetation or growth in a seed or plant; the first development of germs, either animal or vegetable.
• noun an apparatus for malting grain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The process of germinating; the beginning of vegetation or growth from a seed or spore; the first development of germs, either animal or vegetable.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the process whereby seeds or spores sprout and begin to grow
• noun the origin of some development