Etymologically
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seed

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /siːd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sed, inherited from Old English sǣd (“that which is sown; a grain”) (Anglian sēd),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *sēdiz,[2][4] from the root of sow.[4][5][6] It is related to Old Saxon sād, Dutch zaad, German Saat, Old Norse sáð and Gothic manasēþs “mankind, the world”, literally “seed of men”.[3][5][4] Etymonline traces it to PIE *sē-ti- “sowing”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *sē- (“to sow”), which also gave Latin sēmen “seed”.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which is or may be sown: about 825 in the OED.[7][3] An individual grain is from about 1000.[7]

Semantic evolution

Old English already used the word for offspring or posterity, now biblical or archaic, and late Old English for that from which anything springs.[2][7] Semen is from the 13th century in Hoad.[4] The verb meant to flower or produce seed from the late 14th century, in Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite,[2][3] and to sow ground with seed from about 1440.[3][2] Seedy, at first “full of seed” (1440), came to mean shabby in 1749, probably from a plant that has run to seed.[3][4] To remove seeds from fruit is by 1904.[2] In tennis, players were seeded (spread through the draw so that the best would not meet early) by 1898, and a seeded player is a seed from 1924, 1933 in the OED.[2][7] A small crystal added to start crystallization is from 1909.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – that which is sown.[7]
  • c. 1000 – a single grain.[7]
  • c. 1374 – the verb, to produce seed.[7]
  • c. 1440 – to sow with seed.[3]
  • 1749 – seedy, shabby.[3]
  • 1898 – to seed players in tennis.[2]
  • 1909 – a seed crystal.[7]
  • 1924 – a seeded player.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The part of a flowering plant that contains an embryo and can grow into a new plant; seeds in general.
  2. A source or beginning of something: the seeds of doubt.
  3. (archaic) Offspring or descendants; semen.
  4. In tennis and other sports, a player ranked so as not to meet other leading players early in a tournament.

Verb

  1. To sow land with seed, or to plant seeds.
  2. To remove the seeds from fruit.
  3. To sprinkle a cloud with particles to make rain.
  4. To rank players as seeds in a tournament.
  5. To produce seed, or go to seed.

Word family

  • seeded
  • seedless
  • seedlike
  • seedlessness
  • overseed
  • sow
  • semen
  • seminal
  • seedling

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press