seminary

American  

[sem-uh-ner-ee] / ˈsɛm əˌnɛr i /

noun

plural

seminaries

1. a special school providing education in theology, religious history, etc., primarily to prepare students for the priesthood, ministry, or rabbinate.

2. a school, especially one of higher grade.

3. a school of secondary or higher level for young women.

4. seminar.

5. a place of origin and propagation.

   a seminary of discontent.

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seminary British  

/ ˈsɛmɪnərɪ /

noun

1. an academy for the training of priests, rabbis, etc

2. another word for seminar

3. a place where something is grown

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Other Word Forms

• preseminary adjective
• seminarial adjective

Etymology

Origin of seminary

1400–50; late Middle English: seed plot, nursery < Latin sēminārium, equivalent to sēmin- (stem of sēmen ) seed, semen + -ārium -ary

Example Sentences

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

“I am looking forward to the silence finally stopping, because 54 years of silence is a long time,” said Bishop Kassianos of Aravissos, the abbot of the seminary.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025

Because he went to the seminary, then he went to Merrimack College, he was a teacher — he bounced around.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2025

I had dreams of becoming a Catholic priest and spent most of my 20s in various forms of conversion therapy in an attempt to prepare for the seminary and to be eligible for application.

From Slate • Oct. 14, 2025

Later I would learn that it had once been a seminary.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• academy
• association
• business
• clinic
• company
• establishment
• foundation
• hospital
• institute
• school
• society
• system
• university