Definition of seminal
1
:of, relating to, or consisting of seed or semen
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Examples of seminal in a Sentence
- Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2000 for his seminal observation that it was in the action of the synapses between cells that memory existed, not in the cells themselves, and that a molecule called cyclic AMP was what allowed cells to retain memory over the long term. —Michael Greenberg, New York Review of Books, 4 Dec. 2008
- Writer Susan Sontag died December 28 at age 71 after a long battle with cancer. She left behind an impressive body of fiction and criticism, including her seminal 1960s essays "Notes on Camp" and "Against Interpretation." —Allan Gurganus, Advocate, 1 Feb. 2005
- I wonder if the curators who organized "Matisse Picasso" ever asked themselves why it was that Alfred H. Barr Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art and the guiding spirit behind the museum's seminal exhibitions of both Picasso and Matisse, never mounted a show like the one that has now arrived at MoMA QNS. Such an exhibition might seem to be logical, almost inevitable for the Museum of Modern Art. —Jed Perl, New Republic, 3 Mar. 2003
Recent Examples of seminal from the Web
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A road in front of the Wildcats’ home field is named for Page, Northington’s close friend and roommate who died on the eve of that seminal game from complications of a broken neck sustained in practice earlier that summer.
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By then GWTW’s view of the subject — itself an echo of the even more seminal account presented in the pioneering film Birth of a Nation — was being taught as history, and not only in the South.
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North Carolina and Clemson also hit the 500 total-yard mark in the other two Seminal losses.
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The Period Reference in 'Batman: The Killing Joke' The Scene: For those not in the know, The Killing Joke is one of the seminal Batman stories, in which The Joker kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and paralyzes his daughter Barbara—AKA Batgirl.
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The senator’s attempt to cast himself as the successor to Barry Goldwater, whose 1960 book by the same name was a seminal moment in the rise of the modern conservative movement, was an act of colossal pretension.
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Any given location on Earth should expect to see a total eclipse every 375 years, according to seminal calculations published in 1982 by the Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus.
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A real seminal moment in our league,'' Garber called the deal with Adidas.
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Okay, so Paine and Mill spelled all this out more than a century before Milton Friedman penned his seminal piece on school vouchers in 1955.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'seminal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of seminal
Other Biology Terms
SEMINAL Defined for English Language Learners
seminal
play
adjective
Definition of seminal for English Language Learners
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: having a strong influence on ideas, works, events, etc., that come later : very important and influential
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medical : of or containing semen
Medical Dictionary
seminal
play
adjective
sem·i·nal
\
ˈsem-ən-ᵊl
\
medical Definition of seminal
:of, relating to, or consisting of seed or semen
- seminal discharge
Learn More about seminal
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See words that rhyme with seminal Nglish: Translation of seminal for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of seminal for Arabic speakers
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