seminar

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Seminar (“a group of students working with a professor”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin sēminārium (“plant nursery, seed plot”),^[6][7][3] figuratively a breeding ground,^[3][7] from sēminārius (“of seed”), from sēmen (“seed”).^[3][1] It is a doublet of seminary, which comes from the same Latin word.^[7][8] A much earlier English seminar, taken directly from Latin in the sense "seminary", is recorded once in 1573.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A select group of advanced students studying a subject with a professor and doing original research, at first of German universities: 1887 in Barnhart and Etymonline, who label it American English,^[7][3] and 1889 in the OED.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives an earlier first date, 1863,^[4] and Dictionary.com 1885–90.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that both the word and the thing were taken from German universities, and that early writers sometimes called it seminary.^[3] The broader sense, any meeting of specialists or a short course for discussion and exchange of information, is first recorded in 1944, in American English;^[7][2][8] the OED includes courses of instruction for managers.^[2] Attributive use, as in seminar room, is recorded from 1948.^[2]

Timeline

• 1573 – seminar, a seminary (obsolete).^[2]
• 1863 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.^[4]
• 1887 – a group of advanced students doing research under a professor.^[7]
• 1944 – a conference of specialists; a short course of study.^[7][2]
• 1948 – attributive use.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small group of students at a university who meet regularly with a teacher to discuss a subject or present their research; a class or meeting of such a group.
2. An advanced course of study, especially for postgraduates.
3. A meeting or short course for discussing a subject or exchanging information: a two-day seminar on food safety.

Word family

• proseminar

Related words

• semen
• seminary
• seed
• disseminate
• seminal
• webinar

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House