seminal
[sem-uh-nl]
- pertaining to, containing, or consisting of semen.
- Botany. of or relating to seed.
- having possibilities of future development.
- highly original and influencing the development of future events: a seminal artist; seminal ideas.
Show More
Origin of seminal
Synonyms
See more synonyms for seminal on Thesaurus.com4. germinal, primary, formative, innovative.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for seminal
Contemporary Examples
In the long sweep of LGBT equality, it could have stood as a seminal moment.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century is already being hailed as a seminal work of economic thought, and with very good reason.
His Seven Pillars of Wisdom is one of the seminal war memoirs of this or any time.
Lawrence of Arabia Became Popular as the Dashing Antithesis of the War in EuropeJack Schwartz
December 21, 2013
[the seminal pulp crime magazine which first published Hammett].
As a college student, I remember reading his seminal book, The Selfish Gene, with an equal measure of acceptance and despair.
Historical Examples
This, like the others, is a sub-variety, and probably but a seminal variation.
The Field and Garden Vegetables of AmericaFearing Burr
Seminal dreams were accompanied by the idea of contact with a woman.
The Sexual Life of the ChildAlbert Moll
Even the seminal powers bear the impress of this universality.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1Plotinos (Plotinus)
The soul and the (seminal) reasons therefore possess no extension.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1Plotinos (Plotinus)
It might be objected that the (seminal) reasons might suffice.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1Plotinos (Plotinus)
seminal
- potentially capable of development
- highly original, influential, and important
- rudimentary or unformed
- of or relating to semenseminal fluid
- biology of or relating to seed
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Late Latin sēminālis belonging to seed, from Latin sēmen seed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for seminal
adj.
late 14c., "of seed or semen," from Old French seminal (14c.) and directly from Latin seminalis, from semen (genitive seminis) "seed" (see semen). Figurative sense of "full of possibilities" is attested from 1630s. Related: Seminally; seminality.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
seminal
(sĕm′ə-nəl)- Of, relating to, containing, or conveying semen or seed.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.