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Webster 1913 Edition

Seed

Seed

(sēd)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Seed
or
Seeds
(#)
.
[OE.
seed
,
sed
, AS.
sǣd
, fr.
sāwan
to sow; akin to D.
zaad
seed, G.
saat
, Icel.
sāð
,
saeði
, Goth. mana
sēþs
seed of men, world. See
Sow
to scatter seed, and cf.
Colza
.]
1.
(Bot.)
(a)
A ripened ovule, consisting of an embryo with one or more integuments, or coverings;
as, an apple
seed
; a currant
seed
.
By germination it produces a new plant.
(b)
Any small seedlike fruit, though it may consist of a pericarp, or even a calyx, as well as the seed proper;
as, parsnip
seed
; thistle
seed
.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding
seed
, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed
is in itself.
Gen. i. 11.
☞ The seed proper has an outer and an inner coat, and within these the kernel or nucleus. The kernel is either the embryo alone, or the embryo inclosed in the albumen, which is the material for the nourishment of the developing embryo. The scar on a seed, left where the stem parted from it, is called the hilum, and the closed orifice of the ovule, the micropyle.
2.
(Physiol.)
The generative fluid of the male; semen; sperm; – not used in the plural.
3.
That from which anything springs; first principle; original; source;
as, the
seeds
of virtue or vice
.
4.
The principle of production.
Praise of great acts he scatters as a
seed
,
Which may the like in coming ages breed
.
Waller.
5.
Progeny; offspring; children; descendants;
as, the
seed
of Abraham; the
seed
of David
.
☞ In this sense the word is applied to one person, or to any number collectively, and admits of the plural form, though rarely used in the plural.
6.
Race; generation; birth.
Of mortal
seed
they were not held.
Waller.

Seed

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To sow seed.
2.
To shed the seed.
Mortimer.
3.
To grow to maturity, and to produce seed.
Many interests have grown up, and
seeded
, and twisted their roots in the crevices of many wrongs.
Landor.

Seed

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Seeded
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Seeding
.]
1.
To sprinkle with seed; to plant seeds in; to sow;
as, to
seed
a field
.
2.
To cover thinly with something scattered; to ornament with seedlike decorations.
A sable mantle
seeded
with waking eyes.
B. Jonson.
To seed down
,
to sow with grass seed.

Webster 1828 Edition

Seed

SEED

,
Noun.
1. The substance, animal or vegetable, which nature prepares for the reproduction and conservation of the species. The seeds of plants are a deciduous part, containing the rudiments of a new vegetable. In some cases, the seeds costitute the fruit or valuable part of plants, as in the case of wheat and other esculent grain; sometimes the seeds are inclosed in fruit, as in apples and melons. When applied to animal matter, it has no plural.
2. That from which any thing springs; first principle; original; as the seeds of virtue or vice.
3. Principle of production.
Praise of great acts he scatters as a seed. Waller.
4. Progeny; offspring; children; descendants; as the seed of Abraham; the seed of David. In this sense, the word is applied to one person, or to any number collectively, and admits of the plural form; but rarely used in the plural.
5. Race; generation; birth.
Of mortal seed they were not held. Waller.

SEED

,
Verb.
i.
1. To grow to maturity, so as to produce seed. Maiz will not seed in a cool climate.
2. To shed the seed.

SEED

,
Verb.
T.
To sow; to sprinkle with seed, which germinates and takes root.

Definition 2024

seed

seed

English

Noun

Sunflower seeds (1).

seed ‎(countable and uncountable, plural seeds)

  1. (countable) A fertilized grain, initially encased in a fruit, which may grow into a mature plant.
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation,  […] . In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
    If you plant a seed in the spring, you may have a pleasant surprise in the autumn.‎
  2. (countable, botany) A fertilized ovule, containing an embryonic plant.
  3. (uncountable) An amount of fertilized grain that cannot be readily counted.
    The entire field was covered with geese eating the freshly sown seed.‎
  4. (uncountable) Semen.
    A man must use his seed to start and raise a family.‎
  5. (countable) A precursor.
    the seed of an idea;  which idea was the seed (idea)?‎
  6. (countable) The initial state, condition or position of a changing, growing or developing process; the ultimate precursor in a defined chain of precursors.
    1. The initial position of a competitor or team in a tournament. (seed position)
      The team with the best regular season record receives the top seed in the conference tournament.
    2. The competitor or team occupying a given seed. (seed position)
      The rookie was a surprising top seed.
    3. Initialization state of a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG). (seed number)
      If you use the same seed you will get exactly the same pattern of numbers.
    4. Commercial message in a creative format placed on relevant sites on the Internet. (seed idea or seed message)
      The latest seed has attracted a lot of users in our online community.
  7. (now rare) Offspring, descendants, progeny.
    the seed of Abraham
    • 1590, 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.x:
      Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raind, / But had no issue male him to succeed, / But three faire daughters, which were well vptraind, / In all that seemed fit for kingly seed […]
  8. Race; generation; birth.
    • Waller
      Of mortal seed they were not held.
Usage notes

The common use of seed differs from the botanical use. The “seeds” of sunflowers are botanically fruits.

Derived terms
Translations

Verb

seed ‎(third-person singular simple present seeds, present participle seeding, simple past and past participle seeded)

  1. (transitive) To plant or sow an area with seeds.
    I seeded my lawn with bluegrass.
  2. To cover thinly with something scattered; to ornament with seedlike decorations.
    • Ben Jonson
      a sable mantle seeded with waking eyes
  3. (transitive) To start; to provide, assign or determine the initial resources for, position of, state of.
    A venture capitalist seeds young companies.
    The tournament coordinator will seed the starting lineup with the best competitors from the qualifying round.
    The programmer seeded fresh, uncorrupted data into the database before running unit tests.
  4. (sports, gaming) To allocate a seeding to a competitor.
  5. To be able to compete (especially in a quarter-final/semi-final/final).
    The tennis player seeded into the quarters.
  6. To ejaculate inside the penetratee during intercourse, especially in the rectum.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

see +‎ -d ‎(“past tense suffix; variant of -ed”).

Verb

seed

  1. (dialectal) simple past tense and past participle of see

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English seed, sede, side, from Old English sēd, sǣd ‎(“seed, that which is sown”), from Proto-Germanic *sēdiz ‎(“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *sētis-, *seh₁tis (corresponding to Proto-Germanic *sēaną ‎(“to sow”) +‎ *-þiz), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- ‎(“to sow, throw”). Cognate with West Frisian sied ‎(“seed”), Dutch zaad ‎(“seed”), Low German Saad ‎(“seed”), German Saat ‎(“sowing; seed”), Icelandic sæði ‎(“seed”), Danish sæd ‎(“seed”), Swedish säd ‎(“seed”), Latin satio ‎(“seeding, time of sowing, season”). More at sow.

Pronunciation

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