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
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 result is a pair of shows whose three centuries of offerings range from early paintings recording seminal moments in the country’s history to modern masterpieces that reflect the ever-evolving idea of Americanness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
The seminal work by Glass lands at L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
A seminal moment came in 1991, when his adoptive mother Monica received a letter.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
He says it was a seminal moment in his life and one that set the course for decades of his military career, as Germany joined the U.S. in its global war on terror.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
That was the genesis of what would become one of the seminal documents of the atomic age, Albert Einstein’s message to Franklin Roosevelt, dated August 2, 1939.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
