Gemmule

1. n. One of the imaginary granules or atoms which, according to Darwin’s hypothesis of pangenesis, are continually being thrown off from every cell or unit, and circulate freely throughout the system, and when supplied with proper nutriment multiply by self-division and ultimately develop into cells like those from which they were derived. They are supposed to be transmitted from the parent to the offspring, but are often transmitted in a dormant state during many generations and are then developed. See Pangenesis.
2. n. A little leaf bud, as the plumule between the cotyledons.
3. n. One of the buds of mosses.
4. n. One of the reproductive spores of algae.
5. n. An ovule.
6. n. A bud produced in generation by gemmation.

The word meanings were obtained from OPTED(The Online Plain Text English Dictionary), which is based on “The Project Gutenberg Etext of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary” which is in turn based on the 1913 US Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (See Project Gutenburg), as a text file.