seminaryn.1
/ˈsɛmɪnəri/ a. A piece of ground in which plants are sown (or raised from cuttings, etc.) to be afterwards transplanted; a seed-plot. Obsolete.
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the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun]
welleOE
mothereOE
ordeOE
wellspringeOE
fathereOE
headeOE
oreOE
wellspringOE
rootc1175
morea1200
beginningc1200
head wella1325
sourcec1374
principlea1382
risinga1382
springinga1382
fountain14..
springerc1410
nativity?a1425
racinea1425
spring1435
headspring?a1439
seminaryc1440
originationc1443
spring wellc1450
sourdre1477
primordialc1487
naissance1490
wellhead?1492
offspringa1500
conduit-head1517
damc1540
springhead1547
principium1550
mint1555
principal1555
centre1557
head fountain1563
parentage1581
rise1589
spawna1591
fount1594
parent1597
taproot1601
origin1604
fountainhead1606
radix1607
springa1616
abundary1622
rist1622
primitive1628
primary1632
land-spring1642
extraction1655
upstart1669
progenerator1692
fontala1711
well-eye1826
first birth1838
ancestry1880
Quelle1893
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > bed or plot > seed-bed
seminairc1440
seminaryc1440
seed plot1577
seedbed1660
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 480 Let set in to thy semynari bliue Oliues bowis vj feet long or fiue.
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 489, iv. 558.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. x. 510 Concerning seminaries and nource-gardens.
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 46 Then taking your grafted trees out of the Seminary, you shall transplant them into this Nursery.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) 185 For Apple-tree Seminaries, plant the Wildings grown from the Kernels... For a Seminary of Plumbs, plant the Suckers of their several kinds.
1778 R. Weston Gardener's & Planter's Cal. (ed. 2) 80 The Nursery and Seminary.
1829 R. Southey Sir Thomas More (1831) II. 47 They have become mere seminaries..and for raising dwarf trees.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. vi. sig. Hh4v In that same Gardin all the goodly flowres, Wherewith dame Nature doth her beautify,..Are fetcht: there is the first seminary Of all things, that are borne to liue and dye.
1660 R. Sharrock Hist. Propagation & Improvem. Veg. 29 The ground itself from its own seminary sent out the supposititious crop of oates.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock > stock or breed
lineagea1500
breed1553
seminary1607
strain1607
thoroughbredness1846
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > [noun] > place where animals bred
seminary1607
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 21 He that will haue a good flocke of Asses, must looke that the male and female be sounde,..and out of a good seminary, as of Arcadia or Rea.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 69 Very great and large oxen, which the inhabitants cal Pyrhicæ, because that their first stocke or seminary were kept by King Pirrhus.
1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion vi. Illustr. 99 The whole tract is a Seminary of Horses.
1665 M. Nedham Medela Medicinæ 197 Man's rotten Carcase becomes a Seminary of Worms.
3. figurative.† c. A continuous supply (of a class of persons).
a. A place of origin and early development; a place or thing in which something (e.g. an art or science, a virtue or vice) is developed or cultivated, or from which it is propagated abundantly.
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the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] > place of origin and early development
wombc1400
promptuary?a1425
seminairc1440
nursery1509
matrice1555
seed plot1556
matrix1586
seminary1592
seedbed1618
nidus1807
whence1832
breeding-place1841
breeding-ground1856
breeding range1890
whenceness1922
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 79v My insatiable and wanton eyes..whome I founde the seminaries and moouers of all so great strife and trouble, in my..heart.
1596 R. Linche Certaine Sonnets in Diella sig. B4v Thyne eyes (those Semynaries of my griefe).
1625 T. Jackson Treat. Originall of Vnbeliefe 190 That the seminaries of Poetrie should be the chiefe nurses of Idolatry argues how apt the one is to bring forth the other.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vi. vii. 308 God..hath with variety disposed the principles of all things; wisely contriving them in their proper seminaries, and where they best maintaine the intention of their species. View more context for this quotation
a1656 J. Ussher Power of Princes (1683) ii. 156 The bloud of this noble Army of Martyrs became the fruitful seminary thereof.
1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 120 If Gentlemens families were so ordered, as to become Seminaries of Industry and Sobriety.
1696 W. Whiston Disc. conc. Mosaick Hist. Creation 88 in New Theory of Earth The Chaos, that known fund and seminary of the Six Days Creation.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris (ESTC T72826) 95 All which demonstrates the air to be a common seminary and receptacle of all vivifying principles.
1830 J. Mackintosh Diss. Progress Ethical Philos. 98 The virtues which guard the natural seminaries of the affections are their only true and lasting friends.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 112 The Council chamber at Edinburgh had been..a seminary of all public and all private vices.
1864 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows end We are profoundly thankful for the omission of a glossary. It would have been a nursery and seminary of blunder.
b. A place, country, society, condition of things, or the like, in which some particular class of persons are produced or trained.
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society > education > place of education > [noun]
schoolOE
universityc1300
academyc1550
nursery1581
training place1581
seminarya1604
cathedral1644
teaching house1849
separate school1852
nursing home1880
stable1942
a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 53 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) The seminarie or Bee-hive of many thousands of Monkes.
1615 E. S. Britaines Busse E 2 By which meanes euery Busse shall be a Seminary of Saylors and Fishers also, for so shall euery busse breede and make Sixe new Marriners.
a1626 F. Bacon Notes Speech War with Spain in Wks. (1826) V. 234 There is not, in the world again, such a spring and seminary of military people as is England, Scotland, and Ireland.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. C3v These Netherland Wars, were the Queenes Seminaries Nursery, of very many brave Souldiers.
1750 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. II. 762 The north used to be the seminary of Henry's and Margaret's forces, supplying them constantly with fresh recruits.
1759 A. Butler Lives Saints IV. 21 In the seventh century St. Vincent..invited many holy monks from Ireland and Scotland, then seminaries of saints, into the Netherlands.
1876 J. S. Blackie Lang. & Lit. Sc. Highlands v. 309 What had once been..the seminary of a stout Celtic people, and the nursery of a brave British army.
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the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > source of supply > of people > continuous
seminary1652
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie iii. sig. Qqq6 And..from hence supply themselves with a perpetuall Seminary of slaves and Souldiers.
4. A place of education, a school, college, university, or the like; often explicitly (cf. 3a) seminary of learning, seminary of science, etc. Also in more specific sense (cf. 3b) an institution for the training of those destined for some particular profession.Ladies' seminary: see ladies' seminary n. at lady n. Compounds 3b.‘In the earlier half of the 19th cent. ‘Seminary for Young Ladies’ was very common as the designation of a private school for girls. This use is perhaps not wholly obsolete, but is no longer in repute.’ N.E.D.
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society > education > place of education > [noun] > educational institution
studya1382
school1440
learning-place1517
pedagogy1571
learning-seat1584
seminary1585
Academe1598
phrontisterion1615
phrontistery1623
pedagoguery1820
thinking-shop1837
centre of learning1844
1585 Reg. Privy Council Scott. 1st Ser. IV. 2 Universiteis and seminareis for instructioun of craftie personis.
1607 Statutes in M. H. Peacock Hist. Free Gram. School Wakefield (1892) 62 This schole is principallie ordained a seminarie for bringinge up of christian children.
1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. Ff2v A Schoole which hath beene a most fruitfull seminarie of many excellent learned men.
1628 H. Wotton in L. P. Smith Life & Lett. Sir H. Wotton (1907) II. 307 This Royal Seminary [Eton].
1642 T. Fuller Holy State ii. xxiii. 146 He was preferred to be Master of Westminster School, a most famous seminarie of learning.
1687 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 542 I..admired the order, Oeconomie, & excellent government of this most charitable seminary [sc. Christ's Hospital].
1709 J. Swift Project Advancem. Relig. 30 As for the Inns of Court,..they must needs be the worst instituted Seminaries in any Christian Country.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. 436 They were made use of for seminaries, where young people were educated.
a1797 E. Burke Ess. Abridgm. Eng. Hist. (rev. ed.) in Wks. (1812) V. 524 That a nation..should..have established so flourishing a seminary of learning.
1799 H. Lee Canterbury Tales III. 9 The seminary to which Mr. Cavendish conducted his son could not properly be termed a school.
1802 T. Beddoes Hygëia II. viii. 71 A lady who believes herself to have been the favourite of the heads of one of the most numerous seminaries in England.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. xvii. 265 To place his daughter in a seminary for female education.
1817 Sporting Mag. 50 13 The modern metaphorical refinement of styling a school a seminary which may be now seen in many a blind alley of London.
1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton i. 4 At the usual age he was sent to two day-schools at Skillington and Stoke, where he acquired the education which such seminaries afforded.
1837 J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott I. iii. 102 Young Walter spent one hour daily at a small separate seminary of writing and arithmetic.
1840 J. Quincy Hist. Harvard Univ. II. 452 The interests of society demand, that the number of the greater seminaries of science should be few.
1876 J. Grant Hist. Burgh Schools Scotl. ii. v. 201 That famous seminary [Aberdeen University].
5.
a. Roman Catholic Church A school or college for training persons for the priesthood. In 16–17th centuries often used with reference to those institutions engaged in the training of priests for the English mission.
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society > faith > worship > sacrament > order > seminary > [noun]
seminar1573
seminary1581
seminary college1581
theologate1879
1581 J. Hamilton Catholik Traictise Epist. f. 9 He hes not neglectit ye occasion offrit to plant sindrie learnit and godlie ȝong men in a publik seminarie.
1582 W. Allen Briefe Hist. Glorious Martyrdom sig. d3 Hearing that there was a Seminary not longe before begonne in Doway.
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. Aijv At the last, hearing the Schollers of the English Seminarie merrie, as they returned from their Vineyarde..I stole out of Rome by night [etc.].
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Seminary..a Colledge approved for the education of Priests of the Romish Church, who were to propagate their Doctrine in England, or other Parts of a different perswasion.
1716 in Payne Rec. Eng. Catholics of 1715 (1889) 148 John is now in some Popish seminary abroad.
1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 16 For monasteries, we should read convents, mission-houses, and seminaries.
b. attributive, as in seminary †college, seminary-man, seminary-priest.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > order > seminary > [noun]
seminar1573
seminary1581
seminary college1581
theologate1879
society > faith > worship > sacrament > order > seminary > [noun] > priest trained in
seminary1581
seminary-man1581
seminary-priest1581
seminarian1584
seminant1587
seminarist1835
1581 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1908) 5 20 William thorley..was brought uppe in a Semynary College at Reames iij yeares.
1582 W. Allen Briefe Hist. Glorious Martyrdom sig. C7v Confessing boldly him self to be a Catholike, a Priest, and a Seminarie man of Rhemes.
1582 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1908) 5 26 He is now wthin this moneth returned a Seameanary preest from Rheames.
1693 tr. J. Le Clerc Mem. Count Teckely 5 [The Emperors of the House of Austria] filled their Countreys with Missionaries, or Seminary Priests, as we call them.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. i, in Hist. Wks. (1813) I. 542 He drove many of the seminary priests out of the kingdom.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. i. 23 Giles Gosling..was at one time inclined to suspect his guest of being a Jesuit, or seminary priest.
6. = seminar n.2 Also attributive.
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society > education > learning > learner > college or university student > [noun] > group under tutor
side1837
seminar1889
seminary1889
1889 Academy 17 Aug. 103/2 The ‘seminary’ system seems to be making way [at Harvard]... The seminary is an association of the teachers, fellows, and scholars..for the prosecution of original studies by means of discussion and criticism.
1891 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) Seminary course.
a. Short for seminary-priest at sense 5b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > order > seminary > [noun] > priest trained in
seminary1581
seminary-man1581
seminary-priest1581
seminarian1584
seminant1587
seminarist1835
1581 W. Charke Replie to Censure sig. Iiii This should be a note not only to those Iesuites, but to al whatsoeuer they be, Iesuites, or Seminaries or massepriestes, or what persons soeuer.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares Q iii b The Romish Seminaries haue not allured vnto them so many good wits as Atheisme.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. i. 17 in Wks. II A while agone, they made mee, yea me, to mistake an honest zealous Pursiuant, for a Seminary.
1685 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 162 Mr Ll. Jenkyns was imprison'd for a seminary.
b. Often treated as a noun use of seminary adj., with the sense ‘one who sows the seed’ (of Roman Catholic doctrine). See seminary adj. 2 and seminary n.2 2.
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society > faith > worship > preaching > evangelization > [noun] > one who evangelizes
fisherc1000
man-fisherc1300
vangelista1330
evangelizer1382
evangelyc1384
evangelist1535
men-fishera1557
seminary1583
evangel1593
Philip1613
evangelica1617
evangelizationer1825
1583 Ld. Burghley Execution of Iustice sig. A.iiiv These Seminaries or seedemen and Iesuites..haue..laboured..to perswade the people.
1610 J. Dove Advt. Seminaries 2 Their yong frye of Seminaries and seed-men, which are trained up under them, see not with their owne eyes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
† seminaryadj.n.2
Obsolete.
A. adj.
1. = seminal adj.
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the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [adjective] > original or that is the seed
seminative1398
seminary1592
seminala1639
seminiala1676
panspermatic1690
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > ducts > [adjective] > seminal or spermatic ducts
spermatic1541
seminary1592
spermatical1615
seminiferous1828
seminiferal1840
spermatiferous1862
parepididymal1890
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [adjective] > supposed reproductive particles
seminary1592
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [adjective] > sperm > semen
seminal1398
seminary1592
parastatic1693
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. K v They [sc. spirits] so comprehend those seminarie vertues to men vnknown, that those things which, in course of time,..Nature of it selfe can effect. They..can contriue and compasse in a moment.
1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 179 That which the point is in the Mathematicks, the same is the seminarie power in the Phisickes.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 219 Aristotle..would haue that humor which is auoyded by the necke of the matrix not to bee a seminarie or seedy humour.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 233 The Testes and seminary vessels.
1671 J. Webster Metallographia ii. 33 Especially in declaring the root and seminary power of Metals.
1720 P. Blair Bot. Ess. iv. 306 The Seminary Particles in the Ova.
a1742 G. Martin in Med. Ess. Edinb. V. 231 The seminary Blood-vessels.
2. Occupied in sowing seed. figurative with allusion to seminary n.1 7.
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society > faith > worship > preaching > evangelization > [adjective]
evangelizingc1384
gospelling1566
seminary1609
evangelisticala1651
evangelical1651
gracy1848
evangelistic1860
come-to-Jesus1876
1609 Bible (Douay) I. To Rdr. †6 And so [he]..calleth the other Apostles Messores, Reapers, and S. Paul, being specially sent to the Gentiles, Seminatorem a Sower, or Seminarie Apostle.
1641 J. Gauden Love of Truth 25 Fortifying truth, against the Seminary incursions of those, that seeke to encroach upon its ancient bounds.
B. n.2 (From absolute uses of the adjective.)
1.
a. A germ, embryo, seminal particle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > germ cell or mass
seminary1671
germinal cell1840
germ mass1840
germ cell1842
cleavage-mass1871
cleavage-cell1879
cleavage-globule1879
gastrodisc1881
blastule1882
1671 J. Webster Metallographia iii. 40 Plants were not created perfect at first, but only in their seminaries.
b. spec. The morbific matter or principle (of a disease); plural germs (of infection). Cf. seminal n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > production of disease > [noun] > morbific principles
virusa1400
infection1539
seminary1604
fomes1660
fomite1860
1604 F. Herring Modest Def. Caueat To Rdr. sig. A4 The foure windes..bring..diuers affections..of the aire, and especially contagious seminaries.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 244 In whom there lies hid the Seminary of a disease.
1665 G. Harvey Disc. Plague 9 Houses built upon a clay and foggy ground are more subject to conceive pestilent Seminaries.
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician vi. 202 The Plague, whose fomes, seminary, or contagion you will never cast out of the Body, except by [Alexitericks or Sudorificks].
1694 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana i. vii. 229/1 Dedicated to the Kidneys and Bladder, not only to evacuate what is viscous and sandy in them, but also to remove the Seminary thereof, and hinder,..the farther Generations of Sand, Gravel, or Stones.
2. A sower of seed. Only figurative, chiefly with punning allusion to seminary n.1 7.
ΚΠ
1583 Ld. Burghley Execution of Iustice sig. A.iiiv These Seminaries or seedemen and Iesuites..haue..laboured..to perswade the people.
1610 J. Dove Advt. Seminaries 2 Their yong frye of Seminaries and seed-men, which are trained up under them, see not with their owne eyes.]
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 450 A Pettifogger..is a Law-seminary, that sows Tares amongst Friends to entangle them in Contention with one another.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1c1440
adj.n.21592