seed English · revision 5771

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /siːd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sed]], [[inh|ang|sǣd|t=that which is sown; a grain]] (Anglian sēd),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*sēdiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from the root of [[sow]].^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) It is related to Old Saxon sād, Dutch zaad, German Saat, Old Norse sáð and Gothic manasēþs “mankind, the world”, literally “seed of men”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline traces it to PIE *sē-ti- “sowing”, from the root [[ine-pro|*sē-|t=to sow]], which also gave Latin sēmen “seed”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ That which is or may be sown: about 825 in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) An individual grain is from about 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Semen is from the 13th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) The verb meant to flower or produce seed from the late 14th century, in Chaucer's ''Anelida and Arcite'',^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and to sow ground with seed from about 1440.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Seedy'', at first “full of seed” (1440), came to mean shabby in 1749, probably from a plant that has run to seed.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) To remove seeds from fruit is by 1904.^(Etymonline) 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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A small crystal added to start crystallization is from 1909.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – that which is sown.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – a single grain.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1374 – the verb, to produce seed.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1440 – to sow with seed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1749 – ''seedy'', shabby.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1898 – to seed players in tennis.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – a seed crystal.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1924 – a seeded player.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The part of a flowering [[plant]] that contains an [[embryo]] and can grow into a new plant; seeds in general.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A source or beginning of something: ''the seeds of doubt''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' [[offspring|alt=Offspring]] or descendants; [[semen]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # In [[tennis]] and other sports, a player ranked so as not to meet other leading players early in a tournament.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[sow]] land with seed, or to plant seeds.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To remove the seeds from fruit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To sprinkle a [[cloud]] with particles to make rain.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To rank players as seeds in a tournament.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To produce seed, or go to seed.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[seeded]]

+ * [[seedless]]

+ * [[seedlike]]

+ * [[seedlessness]]

+ * [[overseed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sow]]

+ * [[semen]]

+ * [[seminal]]

+ * [[seedling]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}