Etymologically
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seminar

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsɛmɪnɑː/[1]
  • US: /ˈsɛmɪnɑɹ/[1]

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
  • 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