seminar
Americannoun
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a small group of students, as in a university, engaged in advanced study and original research under a member of the faculty and meeting regularly to exchange information and hold discussions.
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the gathering place of such a group.
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a meeting of such a group.
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a course or subject of study for advanced graduate students.
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any meeting for exchanging information and holding discussions.
noun
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a small group of students meeting regularly under the guidance of a tutor, professor, etc, to exchange information, discuss theories, etc
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one such meeting or the place in which it is held
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a higher course for postgraduates
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any group or meeting for holding discussions or exchanging information
Etymology
Origin of seminar
1885–90, < German < Latin sēminārium seminary
Explanation
A seminar means a class or meeting, but it carries with it extra weight. An educational seminar indicates a small, advanced study, while a meeting labeled as such means an intense exchange of ideas. The Latin seminarium originally referred to a plant nursery, a place of great growth. From this came the German seminar, referring to a formal educational group led by a professor. While university seminars are most frequently small-group studies of a particular issue, the word is also applied to large lectures and commercial pitches. Like the seminar you attended on how to get rich by selling carrot peelers to your neighbors.
Vocabulary lists containing seminar
The Vocabulary of College
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #4
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: semi-
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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.
Then came a seminar on citrus black spot, another recent arrival.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
Current and former UFC fighters will visit the FBI Special Agent Academy in Quantico, Virginia, this weekend for a "training seminar" for senior FBI staff and students.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
A decade later, I sat in a seminar room at the University of Chicago listening to Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy present their work on the economics of illegal goods.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
A virtual reality HR seminar is hosted by “a computerized amalgamation of all five personalities of the Rat Pack,” an immersive Autoverse, in which actors create situations that somehow amount to a driving test.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026
“Because the seminar doesn’t start at the butt crack of dawn! Besides which, that is not even the point. Can you please focus, Mamma? What the heck is up with Rishi Patel?”
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
