adj
Meaning 1
Of or relating to seed or semen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
seminal
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈsɛmɪnəl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛmɪnəl
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homophone: Seminole
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CMU ARPABET: S EH1 M AH0 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Creative or having the power to originate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Highly influential, especially in some original way, and providing a basis for future development or research.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" was a seminal work in the modern philosophy of science.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: influential, pioneering
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A seed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 5
pertaining to or containing or consisting of semen
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- seminal fluid
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
containing seeds of later development
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- seminal ideas of one discipline can influence the growth of another
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: germinal, originative
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh1- Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *séh1mn̥ Proto-Italic *sēmn̥ Latin sēmen Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sēminālis Old French seminalbor. Middle English seminal English seminal From Middle English seminal, semynal, from Old French seminal, seminale, from Latin sēminālis, ultimately from oblique stem of Latin sēmen, sēminis (“seed”) + -al.
Across languages
Translations
62 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: семенен (semenen) — of or relating to seed or semen
- Chinese Mandarin: 種子的 /种子的 (zhǒngzi de) — of or relating to seed or semen
- Chinese Mandarin: 精液的 (jīngyè de) — of or relating to seed or semen
- Dutch: zaad- — of or relating to seed or semen
- Finnish: siemen- — of or relating to seed or semen
- French: séminal — of or relating to seed or semen
- Georgian: სათესლე (satesle) — of or relating to seed or semen
- German: Saat- — of or relating to seed or semen
- German: Samen- — of or relating to seed or semen
- German: spermatisch — of or relating to seed or semen
- Italian: seminale — of or relating to seed or semen
- Latin: seminalis — of or relating to seed or semen
- Lithuanian: sėklinis — of or relating to seed or semen
- Portuguese: seminal — of or relating to seed or semen
- Russian: семенно́й (semennój) — of or relating to seed or semen
- Scottish Gaelic: sìolach — of or relating to seed or semen
- Slovene: seménski — of or relating to seed or semen
- Slovene: seminálen — of or relating to seed or semen
- Spanish: seminal — of or relating to seed or semen
- Turkish: dölsel — of or relating to seed or semen
- Turkish: seminal — of or relating to seed or semen
- Bulgarian: оплождащ (oploždašt) — creative or having the power to originate
- Chinese Mandarin: 創造性的 /创造性的 (chuàngzàoxìng de) — creative or having the power to originate
- Dutch: creatief — creative or having the power to originate
- Dutch: vruchtbaar — creative or having the power to originate
- French: créatif — creative or having the power to originate
- French: reproductif — creative or having the power to originate
- French: fondateur — creative or having the power to originate
- French: fécond — creative or having the power to originate
- German: fruchtbar — creative or having the power to originate
- German: produktiv — creative or having the power to originate
- Latin: seminalis — creative or having the power to originate
- Portuguese: seminal — creative or having the power to originate
- Russian: плодови́тый (plodovítyj) — creative or having the power to originate
- Spanish: germinal — creative or having the power to originate
- Turkish: kreatif — creative or having the power to originate
- Turkish: yaratıcı — creative or having the power to originate
- Chinese Mandarin: 影響深遠的 /影响深远的 (yǐngxiǎn shēnyuǎn de) — highly influential
- Dutch: invloedrijk — highly influential
- Dutch: belangrijk — highly influential
- Dutch: baanbrekend — highly influential
- Finnish: uraauurtava — highly influential
- Finnish: mullistava — highly influential
- French: influent — highly influential
- French: important — highly influential
- French: essentiel — highly influential
- German: grundlegend — highly influential
- German: bahnbrechend — highly influential
- German: zukunftsträchtig — highly influential
- German: ur- — highly influential
- German: wegweisend — highly influential
- Italian: seminale — highly influential
- Norwegian Bokmål: innflytelsesrik — highly influential
- Norwegian Bokmål: banebrytende — highly influential
- Portuguese: seminal — highly influential
- Russian: основополага́ющий (osnovopolagájuščij) — highly influential
- Serbo-Croatian: утицајан (uticajan) — highly influential
- Serbo-Croatian: плодоносан (plodonosan) — highly influential
- Spanish: influyente — highly influential
- Swedish: nyskapande — highly influential
- Swedish: inflytelserik — highly influential
- Turkish: çığır açıcı — highly influential