Seed (sēd), n.; pl.
Seed or Seeds (#). [OE.
seed, sed, AS. sǣd, fr. sāwan
to sow; akin to D. zaad seed, G. saat, Icel.
sāð, sæði, Goth.
manasēþs seed of men, world. See Sow to
scatter seed, and cf. Colza.] 1. (Bot.)
(a) A ripened ovule, consisting of an embryo with
one or more integuments, or coverings; as, an apple seed; a
currant seed. By germination it produces a new plant.
(b) Any small seedlike fruit, though it may
consist of a pericarp, or even a calyx, as well as the seed proper;
as, parsnip seed; thistle seed.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his
kind, whose seed is in itself.
Gen. i.
11.
☞ The seed proper has an outer and an inner coat, and within
these the kernel or nucleus. The kernel is either the embryo alone, or
the embryo inclosed in the albumen, which is the material for the
nourishment of the developing embryo. The scar on a seed, left where
the stem parted from it, is called the hilum, and the closed
orifice of the ovule, the micropyle.
2. (Physiol.) The generative fluid of
the male; semen; sperm; -- not used in the plural.
3. That from which anything springs; first
principle; original; source; as, the seeds of virtue or
vice.
4. The principle of production.
Praise of great acts he scatters as a seed,
Which may the like in coming ages breed.
Waller.
5. Progeny; offspring; children; descendants;
as, the seed of Abraham; the seed of David.
☞ In this sense the word is applied to one person, or to any
number collectively, and admits of the plural form, though rarely used
in the plural.
6. Race; generation; birth.
Of mortal seed they were not held.
Waller.
Seed bag (Artesian well), a packing to
prevent percolation of water down the bore hole. It consists of a bag
encircling the tubing and filled with flax seed, which swells when wet
and fills the space between the tubing and the sides of the hole.
-- Seed bud (Bot.), the germ or rudiment
of the plant in the embryo state; the ovule. -- Seed
coat (Bot.), the covering of a seed. --
Seed corn, or Seed grain
(Bot.), corn or grain for seed. -- Seed
down (Bot.), the soft hairs on certain seeds, as
cotton seed. -- Seed drill. See 6th
Drill, 2 (a). -- Seed
eater (Zoöl.), any finch of the genera
Sporophila, and Crithagra. They feed mainly on
seeds. -- Seed gall (Zoöl.),
any gall which resembles a seed, formed on the leaves of various
plants, usually by some species of Phylloxera. -- Seed
leaf (Bot.), a cotyledon. -- Seed
lobe (Bot.), a cotyledon; a seed leaf. --
Seed oil, oil expressed from the seeds of
plants. -- Seed oyster, a young oyster,
especially when of a size suitable for transplantation to a new
locality. -- Seed pearl, a small pearl of
little value. -- Seed plat, or Seed
plot, the ground on which seeds are sown, to produce
plants for transplanting; a nursery. -- Seed
stalk (Bot.), the stalk of an ovule or seed; a
funicle. -- Seed tick (Zoöl.),
one of several species of ticks resembling seeds in form and
color. -- Seed vessel (Bot.), that
part of a plant which contains the seeds; a pericarp. --
Seed weevil (Zoöl.), any one of
numerous small weevils, especially those of the genus Apion,
which live in the seeds of various plants. -- Seed
wool, cotton wool not yet cleansed of its seeds.
[Southern U.S.]