seminary

English

Etymology

From Latin sēminārium, from sēmen (“seed”). Compare seminar.

Noun

seminary (plural seminaries)

1. A theological school for the training of rabbis, priests, or ministers.
2. A private residential school for girls.
   • 1885, Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado

     Three little maids who, all unwary,

     Come from a ladies' seminary

3. (Mormonism) A class of religious education for youths ages 14–18 that accompanies normal secular education.
4. A piece of ground where seed is sown for producing plants for transplantation.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)

   • Evelyn

     But if you draw them [seedlings] only for the thinning of your seminary, prick them into some empty beds.

5. (by extension) The place or original stock from which anything is brought or produced.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Woodward to this entry?)

6. (obsolete) Seminal state or polity.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Thomas Browne to this entry?)

7. A Roman Catholic priest educated in a foreign seminary; a seminarist.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jeremy Taylor to this entry?)

8. (archaic) An academic seminar.

Derived terms

• seminarian
• seminarist

Related terms

• seminar

Translations

theological school

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神學院 (zh), 神学院 (zh) (shénxúeyuàn)

• Czech: seminář (cs) m
• Finnish: pappisseminaari
• French: séminaire (fr) m
• German: Seminar (de) n, Priesterseminar (de) n (Catholic seminary)
• Greek: θεολογική σχολή f (theologikí scholí)
• Italian: seminario (it) m

• Japanese: 神学校 (しんがっこう, shingakkō)
• Latin: sēminārium n
• Maori: whare whakaako pirihi
• Polish: seminarium (pl) n
• Russian: семина́рия (ru) f (seminárija)
• Slovene: semenišče n
• Swedish: seminarium (sv) n

Adjective

seminary (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to seed; seminal.