I. ˈseməˌnerē, -ri noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin seminarium, from neuter of seminarius of seed, from semin-, semen seed + -arius -ary — more at semen
1.
a. archaic : a plot where plants for transplantation are raised from seed
b. obsolete : a stock or breeding place of animals
c. : an environment in which something originates and from which it is propagated : a seed bed producing an often specified class of persons or things
many holy monks from Ireland and Scotland, then seminaries of saints — Alban Butler
the prisons were … seminaries of every crime and every disease — T.B.Macaulay
2.
a. : an institution of secondary or higher education
by affording aids to seminaries of learning already established, by the institution of a national university, or by other expedients — H.L.Wells
specifically : an academy for girls
the female seminary common in the 19th century
young English ladies who are being “finished off” in suitable seminaries — Cecil Beaton
b. : an institution for the training of candidates for the priesthood, ministry, or rabbinate: as
(1) : a Roman Catholic institution preparing young men for diocesan priesthood or for membership in a religious order and having a course of study comprising typically 12 years of secondary, collegiate, and theological training
(2) : a similar Roman Catholic institution having only the final 6-year course of senior college and theological studies — called also major seminary
(3) : preparatory seminary
(4) : a professional school giving training in religion especially for men preparing for ordination as church pastors, usually associated with a Protestant denomination, requiring a college degree for entry, and having a three-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in theology or divinity
3. obsolete : seminary priest
4. : seminar 1
II. adjective
Etymology: Latin seminarius
1. obsolete : seminal 1
2. : seminal 2
III. noun
( -es )
obsolete : germ