seminal
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, containing, or consisting of semen.
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Botany. of or relating to seed.
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having possibilities of future development.
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highly original and influencing the development of future events.
a seminal artist; seminal ideas.
- Synonyms:
- innovative, formative, primary, germinal
adjective
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potentially capable of development
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highly original, influential, and important
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rudimentary or unformed
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of or relating to semen
seminal fluid
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biology of or relating to seed
Other Word Forms
- interseminal adjective
- preseminal adjective
- seminality noun
- seminally adverb
Etymology
Origin of seminal
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin sēminālis, equivalent to sēmin- (stem of sēmen ) seed, semen + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
Call something seminal when it's so original, so groundbreaking and awesome that it will influence everything that comes after it. Picasso produced more than a few seminal works of art, for example. Technically, seminal means something related to semen or seeds. But these days people more often use the word to describe something that plants the seed for creative growth. An innovative piece of music or literature, a fresh new idea, or an invention that changes everything could each be called seminal. Synonyms include critical, fundamental, original, and primary.
Vocabulary lists containing seminal
100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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This Week in Pop Culture: February 2 - 8, 2019
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Just Mercy
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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.
Following the publication of Michael Lewis’s seminal 2003 book about Beane and the A’s, corporate leaders around the country wanted to know how to bring “Moneyball” to their industry.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
A TV adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s seminal 2001 novel, “The Corrections,” has finally found a home at Netflix.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
In his seminal work on the impact of automation on jobs, MIT economist David Autor noted the tendency of headlines to overstate the extent of job losses from new technology.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
The seminal work by Glass lands at L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
Played by Jared Leto in a seminal role, Jordan Catalano was the object of Claire Danes's character's affection in the cult-classic TV series My So-Called Life.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
