seminal - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sem·i·nal

Audio Help [sem-uh-nl] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

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

2.	Botany. of or pertaining to seed.

3.	having possibilities of future development.

4.	highly original and influencing the development of future events: a seminal artist; seminal ideas.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L séminālis, equiv. to sémin- (s. of sémen) seed, semen + -ālis -al¹

]

—Related forms

sem·i·nal·i·ty, noun

sem·i·nal·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 4. germinal, primary, formative, innovative.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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seminal

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sem·i·nal Audio Help (sěm'ə-nəl) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Of, relating to, containing, or conveying semen or seed.
Of, relating to, or having the power to originate; creative.
Highly influential in an original way; constituting or providing a basis for further development: a seminal idea in the creation of a new theory.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sēminālis, from sēmen, sēmin-, seed; see semen.]

sem'i·nal·ly adv.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
seminal

1398, "of seed or semen," from O.Fr. seminal (14c.), from L. seminalis, from semen (gen. seminis) "seed" (see semen). Fig. sense of "full of possibilities" is attested from 1639.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

seminal
adjective
1.	pertaining to or containing or consisting of semen; "seminal fluid"
2.	containing seeds of later development; "seminal ideas of one discipline can influence the growth of another" [syn: germinal]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Seminal

Sem"i*nal\, a. [L. seminalis, fr. semen, seminis, seed, akin to serere to sow: cf. F. seminal. See Sow to scatter seed.]

1. Pertaining to, containing, or consisting of, seed or semen; as, the seminal fluid.

2. Contained in seed; holding the relation of seed, source, or first principle; holding the first place in a series of developed results or consequents; germinal; radical; primary; original; as, seminal principles of generation; seminal virtue.

The idea of God is, beyond all question or comparison, the one great seminal principle. --Hare.

Seminal leaf (Bot.), a seed leaf, or cotyleden.

Seminal receptacle. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Spermatheca.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Seminal

Sem"i*nal\, n. A seed. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.

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