seminal
adjective
sem·i·nal
ˈse-mə-nᵊl 
1
: of, relating to, or consisting of seed or semen
seminal discharge
Examples of seminal in a Sentence
Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2000 for his seminal observation that it was in the action of the synapses between cells that memory existed, not in the cells themselves, and that a molecule called cyclic AMP was what allowed cells to retain memory over the long term.
—
Michael Greenberg, New York Review of Books, 4 Dec. 2008
Writer Susan Sontag died December 28 at age 71 after a long battle with cancer. She left behind an impressive body of fiction and criticism, including her seminal 1960s essays "Notes on Camp" and "Against Interpretation."
—Allan Gurganus, Advocate, 1 Feb. 2005
I wonder if the curators who organized "Matisse Picasso" ever asked themselves why it was that Alfred H. Barr Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art and the guiding spirit behind the museum's seminal exhibitions of both Picasso and Matisse, never mounted a show like the one that has now arrived at MoMA QNS. Such an exhibition might seem to be logical, almost inevitable for the Museum of Modern Art.
—Jed Perl, New Republic, 3 Mar. 2003
Michael Greenberg, New York Review of Books, 4 Dec. 2008
Writer Susan Sontag died December 28 at age 71 after a long battle with cancer. She left behind an impressive body of fiction and criticism, including her seminal 1960s essays "Notes on Camp" and "Against Interpretation."
—Allan Gurganus, Advocate, 1 Feb. 2005
I wonder if the curators who organized "Matisse Picasso" ever asked themselves why it was that Alfred H. Barr Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art and the guiding spirit behind the museum's seminal exhibitions of both Picasso and Matisse, never mounted a show like the one that has now arrived at MoMA QNS. Such an exhibition might seem to be logical, almost inevitable for the Museum of Modern Art.
—Jed Perl, New Republic, 3 Mar. 2003
Recent Examples on the Web
The seminal dishes are almost always empanadas to start, as a snack or a meal or culinary introduction to the country.
—Liza B. Zimmerman, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
The seminal report on the issue — produced by the law school at Columbia University — found a 68% reversal rate nationally of death penalty convictions because of serious error, but that report is decades old, having come out in 2000.
—Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 29 May 2025
With the Bank of Japan scaling back bond purchases in a seminal monetary policy shift last year, and private players not stepping up, the demand-supply mismatch is likely to fuel higher yields.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 28 May 2025
Marcel Ophuls, the director of the seminal 1969 documentary The Sorrow and the Pity that explored the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II, died at his home in in France over the weekend.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for seminal
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Liza B. Zimmerman, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
The seminal report on the issue — produced by the law school at Columbia University — found a 68% reversal rate nationally of death penalty convictions because of serious error, but that report is decades old, having come out in 2000.
—Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 29 May 2025
With the Bank of Japan scaling back bond purchases in a seminal monetary policy shift last year, and private players not stepping up, the demand-supply mismatch is likely to fuel higher yields.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 28 May 2025
Marcel Ophuls, the director of the seminal 1969 documentary The Sorrow and the Pity that explored the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II, died at his home in in France over the weekend.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for seminal
Cite this Entry
“Seminal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seminal. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
seminal
adjective
sem·i·nal
ˈsem-ən-ᵊl
: of, relating to, or consisting of seed or semen
seminal discharge
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