seminary (n.)

mid-15c., "plot where plants are raised from seeds for transplantation," from Latin seminarium "plant nursery, seed plot," figuratively, "breeding ground," a noun from seminarius "of or pertaining to seed," from semen (genitive seminis) "seed" (from PIE root *sē- "to sow").

The literal sense now is obsolete; the figurative meaning "place of origin and early development" is from 1590s. The meaning "school for training priests" is recorded from 1580s; the word was used generally in names of places of education (especially academies for young ladies) from 1580s to 1930s. Related: Seminarial.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to seminary

seminarian (n.)

"seminary student," 1580s, from seminary + -ian. Sometimes also "Catholic priest educated in a seminary," though seminarist (1580s) tended to be used for this.

*sē-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to sow."

It forms all or part of: disseminate; inseminate; seed; seme (adj.); semen; seminal; seminar; seminary; semination; sinsemilla; sow (v.); season.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin serere "to sow;" Old Church Slavonic sejo, sejati; Lithuanian sju, sti "to sow;" Old English sawan "to sow;" Old Prussian semen "seed," Lithuanian smenys "seed of flax," Old Church Slavonic seme, Old High German samo, German Same; Old English sed, sd "that which may be sown; an individual grain of seed."

Trends of seminary

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

seminar

Also in early use sometimes seminary....

fundamentalist

[Address Delivered at the Opening of the Seminary, Sept. 20, 1922, by Professor Harry Lathrop Reed, printed in Auburn Seminary...

reservoir

1680s, "a place where something tends to collect, place where anything is kept in store," originally figurative, from French réservoir "storehouse," from Old French reserver "set aside, withhold," from Latin reservare "keep back, save up; retain, preserve," from re- "back" (see r

set

Middle English setten, from Old English settan (transitive) "cause to sit; make or cause to rest as on a seat; cause to be put, placed, or seated;" also "put in a definite place," also "arrange, fix adjust; fix or appoint (a time) for some affair or transaction," and "cause (thou

elf

"one of a race of powerful supernatural beings in Germanic folklore," Old English elf (Mercian, Kentish), ælf (Northumbrian), ylfe (plural, West Saxon) "sprite, fairy, goblin, incubus," from Proto-Germanic *albiz (source also of Old Saxon alf, Old Norse alfr, German alp "evil spi

decision

mid-15c., "act of deciding," from Old French décision (14c.), from Latin decisionem (nominative decisio) "a decision, settlement, agreement," noun of action from past-participle stem of decidere "to decide, determine," literally "to cut off," from de "off" (see de-) + caedere "to

contrast

1690s, "to set in opposition with a view to show the differences; to stand in opposition or contrast; to set off (each other) by contrast," from French contraster (Old French contrester), modified by or from Italian contrastare "stand out against, strive, contend," from Vulgar La

goal

1530s, "end point of a race," of uncertain origin. It appears once before this (as gol), in a poem from early 14c. and with an apparent sense of "boundary, limit." Perhaps from Old English *gal "obstacle, barrier," a word implied by gælan "to hinder" and also found in compounds (

mirror

mid-13c., mirour, "polished surface (of metal, coated glass, etc.) used to reflect images of objects," especially the face of a person, from Old French mireoir "a reflecting glass, looking glass; observation, model, example," earlier miradoir (11c.), from mirer "look at" (oneself

screen

mid-14c., screne, "upright piece of furniture providing protection from heat of a fire, drafts, etc.," probably from a shortened (Anglo-French? compare Anglo-Latin screna) variant of Old North French escren, Old French escran "fire-screen, tester of a bed" (early 14c.). This is o

Share seminary

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/seminary

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/seminary">Etymology of seminary by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of seminary. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/seminary

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of seminary,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/seminary.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of seminary.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/seminary. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of seminary.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/seminary (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on April 29, 2022

Remove ads >

Dictionary entries near seminary

semifinal

semi-monthly

seminal

seminar

seminarian

seminary

semination

Seminole

semi-official

semiology

semiotic