BUD

I. noun Etymology: Middle English ~de Date: 14th century a small lateral or terminal protuberance on the stem of a plant that may develop into a flower, leaf, or shoot, something not yet mature or at full development: as, an incompletely opened flower, child , youth , c. an outgrowth of an organism that differentiates into a new individual ; gemma , an outgrowth having the potential to differentiate and grow into a definitive organ or part ; primordium , ~dy , II. verb (~ded; ~ding) Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. of a plant to set or put forth ~s, to commence growth from ~s, to grow or develop from or as if from a ~, to reproduce asexually especially by the pinching off of a small part of the parent, transitive verb to produce or develop from ~s, to cause (as a plant) to ~, to insert a ~ from a plant of one kind into an opening in the bark of (a plant of another kind) usually in order to propagate a desired variety, ~der noun