seminal
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, containing, or consisting of semen.
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Botany. of or relating to seed.
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having possibilities of future development.
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highly original and influencing the development of future events.
a seminal artist; seminal ideas.
- Synonyms:
- innovative, formative, primary, germinal
adjective
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potentially capable of development
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highly original, influential, and important
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rudimentary or unformed
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of or relating to semen
seminal fluid
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biology of or relating to seed
Other Word Forms
- interseminal adjective
- preseminal adjective
- seminality noun
- seminally adverb
Etymology
Origin of seminal
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin sēminālis, equivalent to sēmin- (stem of sēmen ) seed, semen + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
Call something seminal when it's so original, so groundbreaking and awesome that it will influence everything that comes after it. Picasso produced more than a few seminal works of art, for example. Technically, seminal means something related to semen or seeds. But these days people more often use the word to describe something that plants the seed for creative growth. An innovative piece of music or literature, a fresh new idea, or an invention that changes everything could each be called seminal. Synonyms include critical, fundamental, original, and primary.
Vocabulary lists containing seminal
100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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This Week in Pop Culture: February 2 - 8, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The city was the one-time home of Augustine, whose autobiographical "Confessions" is a seminal work within the Christian tradition.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
There were storyboards of the classic “1984” ad, color studies for Apple’s rainbow logo and drafts of the seminal memo laying out the company’s guiding principles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
In his seminal work External link on the impact of automation on jobs, MIT economist David Autor noted the tendency of headlines to overstate the extent of job losses from new technology.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
The seminal work by Glass lands at L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
And of course, music, the liberation of which is considered a seminal geek accomplishment.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
