Seminal (adj)
sem-in-ul
Strongly influencing later developments.
Late Middle English (in seminal (sense 2)): from Old French seminal or Latin seminalis, from semen ‘seed’. seminal (sense 1) dates from the mid 17th century.
Example sentences
“All scientists look first to the seminal works.”
Impediment (noun) im-ped-im-ent An obstruction, hindrance or obstacle. / any physical impairment or condition that impedes normal, fluent, or easy speech; a speech disorder. First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English,…
Gamp (noun) gamp (British) (informal) Umbrella. 1860–65; after the umbrella of Mrs. Sarah Gamp in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit (more…)
Marabout (noun) ma-ra-boot (Islam) a hermit or holy man, especially in N Africa, often wielding political power and credited with supernatural powers./ the tomb or shrine of such a man.…
Farrago (noun) far-ah-go A jumbled mixture of things. 1625–35; Latin: literally, mixed crop of feed grains, equivalent to farr- (stem of far ) emmer + -āgō suffix noting kind or…
Firkin (noun) fer-kin a small wooden vessel or tub for butter, lard, etc. First recorded around 1400–50 and comes from the late Middle English word ferdkyn or firdekyn. (more…)
Collocation (noun) coll-ok-ay-shun the arrangement, especially of words in a sentence. 1595–1605; Latin collocātiōn- (stem of collocātiō ), equivalent to collocāt (more…)
Infelicitous (adj) in-fel-is-it-us inapt, inappropriate, or awkward; malapropos / not felicitous, happy, or fortunate; unhappy. First recorded in 1825–35 (more…)
Absquatulate (verb) ab-skwat-yu-layt to flee; abscond. First recorded in 1820–30. Formed from ab-, “away from,” and squat, “to sit in a low or crouching position.” (more…)