Etymograph

English

seminar

Seminar comes from Latin sēminārium ‘seminary’, from sēmen ‘seed’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- ‘to sow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₁-1‘to sow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₁mn̥2‘seed’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sēmn̥2‘seed’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēmen3‘seed’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēminārium3‘seminary’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentSeminar3
  7. Englishtodayseminar3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin semen
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English seminar

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥‘to sow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₁mn̥Wiktionary, Latin semen‘seed’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sēmn̥Wiktionary, Latin semen‘seed’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēmenWiktionary, English seminar‘seed’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēmināriumWiktionary, English seminar‘seminary’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentSeminarWiktionary, English seminar
  7. EnglishtodayseminarWiktionary, English seminar

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- ‘to sow’

since, side, season, earn, seed, sow, serene, sower, 17 more

through Latin sēmen ‘seed’

semen, dissemination, 12 more

Today it means

noun A class held for advanced studies in which students meet regularly to discuss original research, under the guidance of a professor.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “seminar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥, Latin semen. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- / seminar

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