seminal

[sem-uh-nl]

adjective

1. pertaining to, containing, or consisting of semen.

2. Botany.,  of or relating to seed.

3. having possibilities of future development.

4. highly original and influencing the development of future events.

   a seminal artist; seminal ideas.

   Synonyms: innovative, formative, primary, germinal

seminal

/ ˈsɛmɪnəl /

adjective

1. potentially capable of development

2. highly original, influential, and important

3. rudimentary or unformed

4. of or relating to semen

   seminal fluid

5. biology of or relating to seed

Other Word Forms

• seminality noun
• seminally adverb
• interseminal adjective
• preseminal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of seminal¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin sēminālis, equivalent to sēmin- (stem of sēmen ) seed, semen + -ālis -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of seminal¹

C14: from Late Latin sēminālis belonging to seed, from Latin sēmen seed

Example Sentences

Hemingway’s seminal “iceberg theory” explained that a skilled author could omit things he knows—a husband’s suicide, a traumatic war wound—yet make readers feel them as intensely as if he had actually stated them.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He makes a further, more radical claim: “the idea that all human beings were created in God’s image was seminal to the creation of the modern West.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The special hardcover edition of the seminal LGBTQ+ coming of age memoir includes commentary by Kobabe as well as other comic creators and scholars.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The seminal Clintonian theme of “opportunity” — with little regard for outcome — aimed for a wide political audience.

Read more on Salon

"About a decade ago, there was a seminal publication that found out that Maxwell lattices can exhibit a topological phase," McInerney said.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• influential