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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Contained in seed. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence: Holding the first place in a series of developed results or consequents; serving as a source, or first principle; giving rise to related ideas or results; germinal; radical; primary; original; as, seminal principles of generation; seminal virtue; a seminal discovery. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

The idea of God is, beyond all question or comparison, the one great seminal principle. Hare. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seminal leaf (Bot.), a seed leaf, or cotyleden. --
Seminal receptacle. (Zool.) Same as Spermatheca. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A seed. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being seminal. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G. See Seminary, n. ] A group of students engaged, under the guidance of an instructor, in original research in a particular line of study, and in the exposition of the results by theses, lectures, etc.; -- formerly called also seminary, now seldom used in this sense. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

{ } n. [ Cf. F. séminariste. ] A member of, or one educated in, a seminary; specifically, an ecclesiastic educated for the priesthood in a seminary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. seminarius. ] Belonging to seed; seminal. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Seminaries [ L. seminarium, fr. seminarius belonging to seed, fr. semon, seminis, seed. See Seminal. ] 1. A piece of ground where seed is sown for producing plants for transplantation; a nursery; a seed plat. [ Obs. ] Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

But if you draw them [ seedling ] only for the thinning of your seminary, prick them into some empty beds. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, the place or original stock whence anything is brought or produced. [ Obs. ] Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A place of education, as a scool of a high grade, an academy, college, or university. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Seminal state. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Fig.: A seed bed; a source. [ Obs. ] Harvey. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A Roman Catholic priest educated in a foreign seminary; a seminarist. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Seminated p. pr. & vb. n. Seminating. ] [ L. seminatus, p. p. of seminare to sow, fr. semen, seminis, seed. ] To sow; to spread; to propagate. [ R. ] Waterhouse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. seminatio: cf. F. sémination. ] 1. The act of sowing or spreading. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Natural dispersion of seeds. Martyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Semen. ] Thickly covered or sown, as with seeds. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]