seed

1 the source from which something grows or develops ancient Greece provided the seed for much of Western civilization's political and philosophical thought Synonyms fountainhead, germ, origin, root, seedbed Related Words font, fountain, spring, well, wellhead, wellspring; beginning, birth, commencement, dawn, genesis, inception, incipiency, launch, morning, onset, outset, start, threshold; creation, inauguration, origination

2 the descendants of a person, animal, or plant the famous stallion's seed can be found on racetracks all over the world Synonyms fruit, get, issue, posterity, progeny, offspring, spawnRelated Words brood, hatch, litter, young; child, scion; family, kin; lineage, stockNear Antonyms ancestor, antecedent, father, forebear (also forbear), forebearer, forefather, grandfather, parent, primogenitor, progenitor