séh₁mn̥
“seed, sown grain”seed, grain
PIE noun for seed, from *seh₁- "to sow". Gives Latin sēmen, English "seed", "semen".
Discussion
*séh₁mn̥ is a Proto-Indo-European noun meaning "seed" or "sown grain," derived from the verbal root *seh₁- "to sow."
Latin sēmen "seed" (whence English semen, seminal, seminary, disseminate, inseminate) preserves the root with the long vowel from the laryngeal *h₁. The semantic range in Latin spans agricultural seed and biological seed, a polysemy inherited from PIE.
Old English sǣd "seed" (modern English seed) derives from the verbal root *seh₁- directly rather than from this nominal form. German Samen "seed, semen" and Saat "sowing, seed" continue both the nominal and verbal derivatives. Old Norse sáð gives Scandinavian forms.
Sanskrit bī́ja- "seed" replaces this root in Indo-Iranian with an unrelated term, but the verbal root *seh₁- "to sow" continues as Sanskrit sā- "to sow." Lithuanian sėmuo "seed" and Old Church Slavonic sěmę "seed" (Russian semja) confirm Balto-Slavic attestation.
The suffix *-mn̥ is a common PIE nominalization pattern (compare *neh₂-mn̥ "name"). The agricultural vocabulary cluster including this root, *h₂erh₃- "to plough," and *ǵr̥h₂-nóm "grain" supports the reconstruction of PIE agricultural practice.
Modern descendants include English seed, and through Latin: semen, seminal, seminary, disseminate, and season (via Latin satiōnem "sowing time").
Notes
Derivative nominal from the verbal root