semente

Forms

semente f (plural sementi)^[1] Old Italian forms include simente, somente, sumenti and sementa.^[2][3] The variant sementa is still in use.^[1][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sēmentem (“sowing; seed”), the accusative of a noun formed from sēmen (“seed”).^[5][6][7][1] Devoto described the Latin word as the action noun of serō (“to sow”), crossed with the word for “seed”, the counterpart of messis (“harvest”) and like satiō (“sowing”).^[8] In Latin it meant both the sowing and the seed.^[5][9]

The same word is Old Occitan semen, Catalan sement, Spanish simiente and Portuguese semente.^[10] Italian also has semenza, from the Late Latin plural sementia.^[6][11]

The Latin noun may be a reshaping of an earlier *sēmentum, built on Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥, the source of the word for “seed”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Roman Storia de Troia e de Roma (1252–1258), with the sense of seed put into the ground to sprout.^[2] DELI's first record is in Latini, before 1294, for seed kept for sowing.^[12] Latini writes that the earth bore fruit sanza nulla semente (“without any seed”).^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word could mean the seed sown, seed put to other uses, and figuratively whatever gives rise to something, even the foundations of a building.^[2] It also meant semen and, by metonymy, a line of descent, the act of sowing and cultivation, and, with a measure of land, the amount of seed needed to sow it.^[2] Dante compares nature at odds with fortune to ogne altra semente / fuor di sua region, any seed sown outside its own region, which does badly.^[3]

In modern agriculture the word is a general, mostly collective name for seeds kept for sowing, and also for dry fruits such as cereal grains and for tubers and bulbs used to propagate a plant.^[9] In literary use it can mean an origin or cause, especially of something bad.^[6][13]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – Semente appears in the Roman Storia de Troia e de Roma.^[2]
• 1266 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[4]
• Before 1294 – Latini uses semente “seed for sowing”.^[12]
• 16th century – Grazzini uses the derivative sementino.^[14]
• 18th century – The adjective sementivo is recorded.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. seed, taken collectively: the seeds of one species set aside for sowing a field; also grains, tubers or bulbs used for propagation.^{[6][7][15][9]}
2. (literary, figurative) Origin, source, cause, especially of something bad.^[6][13]

Word family

• sementare
• sementino
• sementiere
• sementina
• sementire

Related words

• seme
• semenza
• sementa
• Spanish simiente
• Latin sementis

Usage notes

Semente is a synonym of sementa and semenza.^[15][4] Agronomists speak of the selezione delle sementi and the medicazione delle sementi, the selection and treatment of seed.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
12. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3448
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse