bud
A newly sprouted leaf or blossom that has not yet unfolded.
Example
“After a long, cold winter, the trees finally began to produce buds.”
Other meanings
Something that has begun to develop.
A small rounded body in the process of splitting from an organism, which may grow into a genetically identical new organism.
“In this slide, you can see a yeast cell forming buds.”
Word history
From Middle English "budde".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “bud” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.