semen

noun

se·men ˈsē-mən

: a viscid whitish fluid of the male reproductive tract consisting of spermatozoa suspended in secretions of accessory glands (as of the prostate and Cowper's glands)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web At that point, Tess’s blissful ignorance washes away with her vomit and his semen in the shower. —

Trish Deitch, Variety, 23 Apr. 2023 Smith-Field’s family — who learned of her death days later, after finding a note from the landlord on the door — found a used condom with semen and an unidentified pill in her apartment when cleaning up her apartment over a week after her death. —

Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2022 In 2016, police released an image generated by Parabon NanoLabs, a genetic testing lab in Reston, Virginia, of what the suspect who left the semen behind might look like based on the phenotype in his DNA profile. —

NBC News, 23 Sep. 2021 He’s found that wild male koalas have poorer quality semen than captive individuals because of environmental stressors. —

Gloria Dickie, Scientific American, 2 Mar. 2021 About 4 percent of US men aged 18 to 45 have undergone a vasectomy, a surgical procedure which involves cutting the tubes that carry sperm to be mixed into semen. —

Wired, 24 July 2022 Researchers are also investigating whether the virus can be spread by someone who has no symptoms, or through semen, vaginal fluids and fecal matter, according to the CDC. —

Jen Christensen, CNN, 18 July 2022 Of three semen samples found inside Welch’s body, none matched Virgil, leading to the 2015 overturning of his conviction. —

Amber Hunt, The Enquirer, 15 Mar. 2023 The semen sample is then analyzed in a lab, and as long as the sample contains live sperm cells, it can be frozen and stored. —

Samantha Lauriello, Health, 14 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'semen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, seed, semen; akin to Old High German sāmo seed, Latin serere to sow — more at sow

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of semen was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Semen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semen. Accessed 4 Jun. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

semen

noun

se·men ˈsē-mən

: a sticky whitish fluid of the male reproductive tract that contains the sperm

Medical Definition

semen

noun

se·men ˈsē-mən

: a viscid whitish fluid of the male reproductive tract consisting of spermatozoa suspended in secretions of accessory glands (as of the prostate and Cowper's glands)