seed
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: sēd, IPA(key): /siːd/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -iːd
- Homophones: cede, sede
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English seed, sede, side, from Old English sēd, sǣd (“seed, that which is sown”), from Proto-West Germanic *sād, from Proto-Germanic *sēdą, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow, throw”).
Cognate with West Frisian sied (“seed”), Dutch zaad (“seed”), Low German Saad (“seed”), German Saat (“sowing; seed”), Icelandic sæði (“seed”), Danish sæd (“seed”), Swedish säd (“seed”), Latin satiō (“seeding, time of sowing, season”). More at sow.
Alternative forms[edit]
- sede (obsolete)
Noun[edit]
seed (countable and uncountable, plural seeds)
- (countable, botany) A fertilized and ripened ovule, containing an embryonic plant.
- (countable) Any small seed-like fruit.
- 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC; reprinted as Hydriotaphia (The English Replicas), New York, N.Y.: Payson & Clarke Ltd., 1927, →OCLC, page 136:
- The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing.
- 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
- Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […] . In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
- If you plant a seed in the spring, you may have a pleasant surprise in the autumn.
- (countable, agriculture) Any propagative portion of a plant which may be sown, such as true seeds, seed-like fruits, tubers, or bulbs.
- (uncountable, collective) An amount of seeds that cannot be readily counted.
- The entire field was covered with geese eating the freshly sown seed.
- (countable) A fragment of coral.
- (uncountable) Semen.
- A man must use his seed to start and raise a family.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 15:16:
- And if any mans seede of copulation goe out from him, then hee shall wash all his flesh in water, and bee vncleane vntill the Euen.
- (countable, figurative) A precursor.
- Synonym: germ
- the seed of an idea
- Which idea was the seed (idea)?
- (countable) The initial state, condition or position of a changing, growing or developing process; the ultimate precursor in a defined chain of precursors.
- (sports) The initial position of a competitor or team in a tournament. (seed position)
- The team with the best regular season record receives the top seed in the conference tournament.
- The competitor or team occupying a given seed. (seed position)
- The rookie was a surprising top seed.
- (cryptography) The initialization state of a pseudorandom number generator or similar system. (seed number)
- If you use the same seed you will get exactly the same pattern of numbers.
- (Internet marketing) A commercial message in a creative format placed on relevant sites on the Internet. (seed idea or seed message)
- The latest seed has attracted a lot of users in our online community.
- (sports) The initial position of a competitor or team in a tournament. (seed position)
- (now rare) Offspring, descendants, progeny.
- the seed of Abraham
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raind, / But had no issue male him to succeed, / But three faire daughters, which were well vptraind, / In all that seemed fit for kingly seed […]
- Race; generation; birth.
- a. 1687, Edmund Waller, To Zelinda:
- Of mortal seed they were not held.
- (physics) A small particle, bubble, or imperfection that serves as a nucleation point for some process.
- A small bubble formed in imperfectly fused glass.
Usage notes[edit]
(botany, agriculture): The common use of seed differs from the botanical use. The “seeds” of sunflowers are botanically fruits.
Hyponyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- aburachan seed
- allseed
- amber seed
- apple seed
- bad seed
- canary seed
- celery seed
- chia seed
- drift seed
- eat one's seed corn
- eat the seed corn
- fern seed
- flax seed
- gape seed
- go to seed
- hemp seed
- lotus seed
- meeting seed
- meetin' seed
- musk seed
- mustard seed
- naked seed
- Niger seed
- oil-seed camellia
- one-seed juniper
- onion seed
- plant a seed
- poppy seed
- poppy seed test
- pumpkin seed
- radon seed
- random seed
- run to seed
- rye seed
- seed bank
- seed bank
- seed bead
- seed beetle
- seed-borne
- seed-bud
- seed bug
- seedcake
- seed cake
- seedcase
- seed change
- seed coat
- seedcoat
- seed corn
- seed crystal
- seed down
- seed drill
- seedeater
- seeder
- seed-faith
- seed fern
- seed fill
- seed funder
- seed funding
- seed gall
- seed grain
- seed leaf
- seed library
- seedling
- seed-lobe
- seedly
- seed money
- seed-nut
- seed oil
- seed oyster
- seed pearl
- seed phrase
- seed pit
- seed plant
- seedpod
- seed pod
- seed potato
- seed shrimp
- seed stitch
- seed stock
- seed technology
- seed tick
- seedtime
- seed tree
- seed vault
- seed vault
- seed vessel
- seed wool
- seedy
- sesame seed
- sow the seeds of
- spill one's seed
- star seed
- suicide seed
- sunflower seed
- til seed
- top seed
- true to seed
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
seed (third-person singular simple present seeds, present participle seeding, simple past and past participle seeded)
- (transitive) To plant or sow an area with seeds.
- I seeded my lawn with bluegrass.
- (transitive) To cover thinly with something scattered; to ornament with seedlike decorations.
- 1604 March 25 (first performance; Gregorian calendar; published 1604), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Part of the Kings Entertainment in Passing to His Coronation [The Coronation Triumph]”, in The Workes of Ben Jonson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, page 846:
- AGRYPNIA, or Vigilance, in yellow, a ſable mantle ſeeded with waking eyes, and ſiluer fringe: […]
- (transitive) To start; to provide, assign or determine the initial resources for, position of, state of.
- A venture capitalist seeds young companies.
- The tournament coordinator will seed the starting lineup with the best competitors from the qualifying round.
- The programmer seeded fresh, uncorrupted data into the database before running unit tests.
- (sports, gaming) To allocate a seeding to a competitor.
- (Internet, transitive) To leave (files) available for others to download through peer-to-peer file sharing protocols (e.g. BitTorrent).
- (intransitive) To be qualified to compete, especially in a quarter-final, semi-final, or final.
- The tennis player seeded into the quarters.
- (meteorology) To scatter small particles within (a cloud or airmass) in order to trigger the formation of rain.
- A number of clouds were seeded to help provide rain to a drought-stricken area.
- (intransitive) To produce seed.
- (intransitive) To grow to maturity.
- (slang, vulgar) To ejaculate inside the penetratee during intercourse, especially in the rectum.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 2[edit]
see + -d (“past tense suffix; variant of -ed”).
Verb[edit]
seed
- (dialectal) simple past and past participle of see
Anagrams[edit]
Chinese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
seed (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang)
- one who provides the files to others to download through peer-to-peer file sharing protocols (e.g. BitTorrent)
- file(s) that are available for download through peer-to-peer file sharing protocols (e.g. BitTorrent)
- serial number or code of Japanese adult videos
See also[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Old English sǣd, sēd, from Proto-West Germanic *sād, *sādi, from Proto-Germanic *sēdiz, *sēdą, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (compare sowen).
Alternative forms[edit]
- ceed, ceede, sed, sede, sedde, seede, seide, seod, seth, seyd, seyde, side, syd, zed
- sad, sæd, sæt (early)
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
seed (plural sedes)
- seed (ovule or analogous structure):
- c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)[1], published c. 1410, Matheu 13:31-32, page 6v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
- An oþer parable iheſus puttide foꝛþ to hem. / ⁊ ſeide / þe kyngdom of heuenes is lijk to a coꝛn of ſeneuey · which a man took ⁊ ſewe in his feeld · / which is þe leeſt of alle ſeedis / but whanne it haþ woxen .· it is the mooſt of alle woꝛtis · ⁊ is maad a tre / ſo þe bꝛiddis of þe eir comen ⁊ dwellen in þe bowis þerof.
- Jesus put another parable forwards to them, saying: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field; / it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest of all plants; it becomes a tree, so the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
- (figurative) germ, origin
- semen, sperm (or the supposed female equivalent)
- offspring, progeny
- descendants, lineage
- (rare) bit, granule
- (rare) seeding, sowing
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “sẹ̄d, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
seed
- Alternative form of seden (“to seed”)
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iːd
- Rhymes:English/iːd/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *seh₁- (sow)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
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- en:Botany
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- en:Agriculture
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- English verbs
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- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- enm:Biology
- enm:Botany
- enm:Family
- enm:Sex