seminary
Americannoun
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a special school providing education in theology, religious history, etc., primarily to prepare students for the priesthood, ministry, or rabbinate.
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a school, especially one of higher grade.
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a school of secondary or higher level for young women.
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a place of origin and propagation.
a seminary of discontent.
noun
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an academy for the training of priests, rabbis, etc
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another word for seminar
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a place where something is grown
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of seminary
1400–50; late Middle English: seed plot, nursery < Latin sēminārium, equivalent to sēmin- (stem of sēmen ) seed, semen + -ārium -ary
Explanation
What do ministers, priests, rabbis, and children have in common? They all might attend a school that has the word seminary in its name. A seminary is a school, especially one where people train to be religious leaders. Seminary comes from the Latin word seminarium, meaning "plant nursery," which can be interpreted as, "breeding ground." Like a greenhouse that provides ideal conditions for seeds to grow into hearty plants, a seminary was first a place for young men to become priests. Seminary typically describes religious institutions but it can apply to nonreligious schools as well.
Vocabulary lists containing seminary
The Alchemist
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Lyddie
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Chapter 20: Renaissance and Reformation
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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.
Khamenei left Mashhad in 1957 to attend seminary in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in Iraq.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
Jackson hesitated — the job required him to leave the seminary six months short of graduation.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
He left before completing seminary, joining the civil rights movement full time.
From Salon • Feb. 17, 2026
But the changes blowing through Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva - or Jewish seminary - in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025
When she was eighteen, Baby Kochamma fell in love with a handsome young Irish monk, Father Mulligan, who was in Kerala for a year on deputation from his seminary in Madras.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
