seminary Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a private place of education for the young
  2. noun a theological school for training ministers or priests or rabbis

WordNet

Sem"i*na*ry noun
Etymology
L. seminarium, fr. seminarius belonging to seed, fr. semon, seminis, seed. See Seminal.
Wordforms
plural Seminaries
Definitions
  1. A piece of ground where seed is sown for producing plants for transplantation; a nursery; a seed plat. Obs. Mortimer.
    But if you draw them [seedling] only for the thinning of your seminary, prick them into some empty beds. Evelyn.
  2. Hence, the place or original stock whence anything is brought or produced. Obs. Woodward.
  3. A place of education, as a scool of a high grade, an academy, college, or university.
  4. Seminal state. Obs. Sir T. Browne.
  5. Fig.: A seed bed; a source. Obs. Harvey.
  6. A Roman Catholic priest educated in a foreign seminary; a seminarist. Obs. Jer. Taylor.
Sem"i*na*ry adjective
Etymology
L. seminarius.
Definitions
  1. Belonging to seed; seminal. R.

Webster 1913