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in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English semen, from Latin sēmen (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow; plant”).
Pronunciation
Noun
semen (usually uncountable, plural semens)
- A sticky, milky fluid produced in male reproductive organs that contains the reproductive cells.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 162:In the Sumerian language the word for water also means semen, and since Enki is the god of water, he is therefore the god of semen. In this ode to the Great Father, the land of the Sumerians is literally awash with semen.
Synonyms
- (male reproductory fluid): ejaculate, sperm; (slang): jissom, jism, jizz, balljuice, spunk, cum, seed, spurt, spooge, splooge, load, skeet, squirt, nut
- See also Thesaurus:semen
Derived terms
Translations
male reproductory fluid
- Abkhaz: аӷьаӡ (ağʲadz)
- Akkadian: riḫūtu f
- Albanian: spermë (sq) f, lëng seminal m
- Arabic: مَنِيّ m (maniyy)
- Egyptian Arabic: مني m (mani), لبن m (laban) (vulgar)
- Armenian: սերմ (hy) (serm), սերմնահեղուկ (hy) (sermnaheġuk)
- Asturian: semen (ast) m
- Azerbaijani: toxum (az)
- Bashkir: мәней (məney), аталыҡ орлоғо (atalıq orloğo)
- Basque: hazi
- Belarusian: спе́рма f (spjérma), се́мя (be) n (sjémja), кнура́ f (knurá), насе́нне n (nasjénnje)
- Bengali: বীর্য (bn) (birjo)
- Bikol Central: kasit (bcl)
- Bulgarian: спе́рма f (spérma), семенна течност f (semenna tečnost)
- Burmese: သုက် (my) (suk), သုက်ရည် (suk-rany)
- Catalan: esperma (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 精液 (zing1 jik6), 精 (zing1)
- Hokkien: 精水 (cheng-chúi), 潲 (zh-min-nan) (siâu)
- Mandarin: 精液 (zh) (jīngyè), 㞞/𪨊 (zh) (sóng)
- Czech: semeno (cs) n, ejakulát (cs) m, sperma (cs) n
- Danish: sæd (da)
- Dutch: sperma (nl)
- Dzongkha: ཐིག་ལེ (thig le)
- Egyptian: (mtwt)
- Esperanto: ejakulaĵo, spermo
- Estonian: seemnevedelik, sperma (et)
- Faroese: sáð n, spin n
- Finnish: siemenneste (fi), sperma (fi)
- French: semence (fr) f, sperme (fr) m
- Galician: seme (gl) m
- Gamilaraay: barabin
- Georgian: სპერმა (sṗerma), თესლი (ka) (tesli) (mildly vulgar)
- German: Samen (de) m
- Greek: σπέρμα (el) n (spérma)
- Ancient: θορός m (thorós)
- Greenlandic: anisooq, peersaq
- Gujarati: વીર્ય (vīrya)
- Hebrew: זֶרַע (he) m (zera'), זִרְמָה f (zirma)
- Hindi: वीर्य (hi) m (vīrya), शुक्र (hi) m (śukra), बीज (hi) (bīj) (seed), धात (hi) (dhāt), धातु (hi) (dhātu), नुत्फ़ा (nutfā), मनी (hi) (manī), रेतस् (hi) (retas)
- Hungarian: ondó (hu)
- Icelandic: sæði n, sáð n, sáðvökvi m, brundur m
- Indonesian: air mani, semen (id), sperma (id)
- Irish: seamhan m, síol m
- Italian: sperma (it) m, seme (it) m
- Japanese: 精液 (ja) (せいえき, seieki), ザーメン (zāmen)
- Karok: síshaf
- Khmer: ទឹកកាម (km) (tɨk kaam)
- Korean: 정액(精液) (ko) (jeong'aek), (slang) 좆물 (jonmul),
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: تۆو (ckb) (tow), تۆماو (tomaw), تۆم (ckb) (tom)
- Northern Kurdish: tovav f
- Kyrgyz: сперма (ky) (sperma)
- Lao: ອະສຸຈິ (ʼa su chi), ນ້ຳກາມ (nam kām)
- Latin: sēmen n
- Latvian: sēkla (lv) f, sperma f
- Lithuanian: sperma f, sėkla (lt) f
- Macedonian: сперма f (sperma)
- Malay: mani (ms)
- Malayalam: ശുക്ലം (ml) (śuklaṁ)
- Maltese: liba f
- Manchu: ᠣᠣᡵᡳ (oori)
- Maori: waitātea
- Marathi: रेत (ret)
- Middle English: seed
- Navajo: íígąsh
- Norwegian: sæd m
- Persian: منی (fa) (mani), اسپرم (fa) (esperm)
- Middle Persian: šuhr
- Polish: sperma (pl) f, nasienie (pl) n
- Portuguese: sêmen (pt) m, sémen (pt) m
- Romanian: spermă (ro) f
- Russian: се́мя (ru) n (sémja), спе́рма (ru) f (spérma), эякуля́т (ru) m (ejakulját), молофья́ (ru) f (molofʹjá) (vulgar)
- Sami:
- Inari: siemâkolgos
- Northern: siemagolggus
- Skolt: siõmkoolǥâs
- Sanskrit: रेतस् (sa) n (retas)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: сперма f
- Roman: sperma (sh) f
- Shan: ၼမ်ႉၸိူဝ်ႉ (nâ̰m tsô̰e)
- Slovak: sperma f, semeno n
- Slovene: séme (sl) n, spêrma (sl) f
- Spanish: semen (es) m
- Sumerian: 𒀀 (a)
- Swahili: shahawa, manii (sw)
- Swedish: säd (sv),sädesvätska (sv), sperma (sv), sagge (sv) c
- Tagalog: punlay, tabod, tamod, semilya, danupunlay
- Tajik: тухмӣ (tuxmī), манӣ (manī)
- Tamil: விந்து (ta) (vintu)
- Telugu: వీర్యము (te) (vīryamu), రేతస్సు (te) (rētassu)
- Thai: อสุจิ (th) (à-sù-jì), น้ำกาม (th) (náam-gaam)
- Tibetan: ཐིག་ལེ (thig le)
- Tocharian B: śukkär
- Turkish: meni (tr), sperm (tr), döl (tr), atmık (tr)
- Ukrainian: спе́рма f (spérma), сі́м'я f (símʺja), еякуля́т m (ejakulját), насі́ння n (nasínnja)
- Urdu: ویریہ m (vīrya), منی
- Uzbek: sperma (uz)
- Vietnamese: tinh dịch (vi) (精液)
- Yiddish: זוימען (zoymen)
- Zazaki: sêmeni
|
semen (fluid)
— see sperm
See also
Anagrams
Asturian
Verb
semen
- third-person plural present indicative of semar
- third-person plural present subjunctive of semar
Catalan
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin sēmen.
Pronunciation
Noun
semen m (plural sèmens or sémens)
- semen, sperm
- Synonym: esperma
Further reading
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
semen
- genitive plural of semeno
Indonesian
Etymology 1
From Malay semen, from Dutch cement (“cement”), from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum (“quarry stone; stone chips for making mortar”), from caedō (“I cut, hew”). Cognate with Afrikaans sement (“cement”). The sense “cementum” is a semantic loan from English cement.
Pronunciation
Noun
sêmèn (first-person possessive semenku, second-person possessive semenmu, third-person possessive semennya)
- cement (powdered substance)
- cement, the layer of bone investing the root and neck of a tooth; cementum.
Alternative forms
- simen (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Learned borrowing from Latin sēmen (“semen, seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow; plant”).
Pronunciation
Noun
sèmèn (first-person possessive semenku, second-person possessive semenmu, third-person possessive semennya)
- (medicine) semen, the fluid, produced in male reproductive organs of an animal, that contains the reproductive cells.
- Synonym: air mani
Alternative forms
Related terms
Further reading
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *sēmən, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥ (“seed”).
Pronunciation
Noun
sēmen n (genitive sēminis); third declension
- seed (of plants)
- Sēmen manū spargere. ― To scatter seed by hand.
8 CE,
Ovid,
Fasti 5.221–222:
- ‘prīma per immēnsās sparsī nova sēmina gentēs!
ūnīus tellūs ante colōris erat.’- “First I scattered new seeds throughout countless nations!
Previously the earth was of one color.”
(The poetic voice is that of Flora (mythology).)
- semen
- graft
- offspring
- cause
- (poetic) seed (of the elements of other bodies (of fire, water, stones, etc.))
Declension
Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “semen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “semen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- semen in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- the elements and first beginnings: elementa et tamquam semina rerum
- to sow: serere; semen spargere
Maltese
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Arabic سَمْن (samn).
Pronunciation
Noun
semen m
- butter
- Synonym: butir
Mauritian Creole
Etymology
From French chemin.
Noun
semen
- road, street
References
- Baker, Philip & Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. 1987. Dictionnaire de créole mauricien. Morisyen – English – Français
Middle English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old English sēman, from Proto-West Germanic *sōmijan, from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Verb
semen (third-person singular simple present semeth, present participle semende, semynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle semed)
- (Early Middle English) To sort out; to resolve, subdue, or confirm.
Conjugation
1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
References
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Old Norse sœma, from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną, thus a doublet of Etymology 1.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Verb
semen (third-person singular simple present semeth, present participle semende, semynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle semed)
- To seem (to be); to look or be perceived as.
- 14th Century, Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Knight's Tale
- The brighte swerdes wenten to and fro
So hidously þat with þe leste strook
That it semeþ þat it wolde felle an ook
- To appear; to become visible or discernible.
- To believe or assume; to develop a belief:
- To deem or consider; to form a judgement.
- To consider to be appropriate; to judge as suitable.
- To be appropriate or right; to suit or befit.
- (rare) To exist; to be extant.
Conjugation
1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Related terms
Descendants
References
Etymology 3
Inherited from Old English sīman, sēman, from Proto-West Germanic *saumijan; equivalent to seem (“load”) + -en (infinitival suffix).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈseːmən/, /ˈsɛːmən/
Verb
semen (third-person singular simple present semeth, present participle semende, semynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle semed)
- To load up or with; to place upon.
- (figuratively, rare) To be burdensome or grievous.
Conjugation
infinitive
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(to) semen, seme
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present tense
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past tense
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1st-person singular
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seme
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semed, semde
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2nd-person singular
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semest
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semedest, semdest
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3rd-person singular
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semeth
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semed, semde
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subjunctive singular
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seme
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imperative singular
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—
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plural1
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semen, seme
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semeden, semede, semden, semde
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imperative plural
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semeth, seme
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—
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participles
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semynge, semende
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semed, ysemed
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1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
References
Romanian
Etymology
Back-formation from semăna.
Noun
semen m (plural semeni)
- fellow human
Declension
Seychellois Creole
Etymology
From French chemin.
Noun
semen
- road, street
References
- Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin sēmen.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsemen/
- Rhymes: -emen
- Syllabification: se‧men
Noun
semen m (uncountable)
- semen, sperm
Mi amigo me preguntó si era saludable tragarse su propio semen.- My friend asked me if it was healthy to swallow his own semen.
Related terms
Further reading
Veps
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *seemen, from a Baltic language, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥.
Noun
semen
- seed
Inflection
Derived terms
References
- Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “семя”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika