seed
A plant's unit of reproduction, containing an embryo capable of growing into a new plant.
Etymology
From Old English sǣd, from Proto-Germanic *sēdiz. This traces to PIE *seh₁- meaning "to sow, to plant seed." The same root produced Latin sēmen and English "sow" (the verb). The semantic range covers both the act of planting and the thing planted.
The Journey: *seh₁- → seed
*seh₁-
*sēdiz
sǣd
seed
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *seh₁-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | (none direct) |
| Latin | sēmen |
| Gothic | manaseþs (mankind, lit. man-seed) |
| Old Irish | síl |
| Lithuanian | sėti (to sow) |
| Old High German | sāt |
Did You Know?
Latin sēmen "seed" gave English "seminar" (originally a seed-bed for ideas) and "seminary." The word "season" also derives from this root via Latin satiōnem "a sowing."
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *seh₁-. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.