Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “seminal” come from?

seminal (Middle English) comes from Old French seminal, from Latin seminalis, from Latin sēmen, from Proto-Indo-European séh₁mn̥, from Proto-Indo-European seh₁- — to impress, insert; to sow, to plant; long,...

Ancestry of “seminal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchseminal—
2Latinseminalisseed; seminal
3Latinsēmen—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanséh₁mn̥seed
5Proto-Indo-Europeanseh₁-to impress, insert; to sow, to plant; long,...

Words derived from “seminal”

  • seminal
  • seminally
  • seminality
  • nonseminal
Every word from Proto-Indo-European seh₁- →