Relating to or concerning a germ or the earliest stage of development; relating to origin or beginning.
From Latin germen (sprout, bud, seed) plus -al suffix. The word parallels 'germane' and 'germinal,' all sharing the root idea of 'sprouting' or 'beginning.'
While 'germinal' is common (as in 'germinal stage'), 'germal' is its archaic cousin — both mean relating to origins, but 'germinal' won the English language popularity contest and has survived in contexts like developmental biology.
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