Seed Definition

sēd

seeded, seeding, seeds

noun

seeds

The part of a flowering plant that typically contains the embryo with its protective coat and stored food and that can develop into a new plant under the proper conditions; fertilized and mature ovule.

Webster's New World

Any part, as a bulb, tuber, etc., from which a new plant can grow.

A potato seed.

Webster's New World

A small, usually hard, seedlike fruit.

Webster's New World

Seeds collectively.

Webster's New World

A larval shellfish or a hatchling fish.

Released scallop seed in the bay.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

verb

seeded, seeding, seeds

To form seeds; specif., to become ripe and produce seeds.

Webster's New World

To plant with seeds.

Webster's New World

To go to seed; shed seeds.

Webster's New World

To sow seeds.

Webster's New World

To remove the seeds from.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

adjective

Set aside for planting a new crop.

Seed corn; seed potatoes.

American Heritage

Intended to help in early stages.

Provided seed capital for a fledgling business.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

idiom

To pass into the seed-bearing stage.
To become weak or devitalized; deteriorate:
The old neighborhood has gone to seed.

American Heritage

go to seed

to shed seeds after the time of flowering or bearing has passed
to become weak, useless, unprofitable, etc.; deteriorate

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Seed

Noun

Singular:

seed

Plural:

seeds

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Seed

Origin of Seed

From Middle English seed, sede, side, from Old English sÄ“d, sÇ£d (“seed, that which is sown"), from Proto-Germanic *sÄ“diz (“seed"), from Proto-Indo-European *sÄ“tis-, *seh₁tis (corresponding to Proto-Germanic *sÄ“anÄ… (“to sow") +"Ž *-þiz), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow, throw"). Cognate with West Frisian sied (“seed"), Dutch zaad (“seed"), Low German Saad (“seed"), German Saat (“seed"), Danish sæd (“seed"), Swedish säd (“seed"), Latin satio (“seeding, time of sowing, season"). More at sow.

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English sǣd, sēd sē- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition