Afrikaans saad | ||
Albanian farë | ||
Amharic ዘር | ||
Arabic بذرة | ||
Armenian սերմ | ||
Assamese বীজ | ||
Aymara jatha | ||
Azerbaijani toxum | ||
Bambara si | ||
Basque hazia | ||
Belarusian насенне | ||
Bengali বীজ | ||
Bhojpuri बीज | ||
Bosnian sjeme | ||
Bulgarian семе | ||
Catalan llavor | ||
Cebuano binhi | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 种子 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 種子 | ||
Corsican sumente | ||
Croatian sjeme | ||
Czech semínko | ||
Danish frø | ||
Dhivehi އޮށް | ||
Dogri बीऽ | ||
Dutch zaad | ||
English seed | ||
Esperanto semo | ||
Estonian seeme | ||
Ewe nuku | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) buto | ||
Finnish siemenet | ||
French la graine | ||
Frisian sied | ||
Galician semente | ||
Georgian თესლი | ||
German samen | ||
Greek σπόρος | ||
Guarani ra'ỹi | ||
Gujarati બીજ | ||
Haitian Creole grenn | ||
Hausa iri | ||
Hawaiian hua kanu | ||
Hebrew זֶרַע | ||
Hindi बीज | ||
Hmong noob | ||
Hungarian mag | ||
Icelandic fræ | ||
Igbo mkpuru | ||
Ilocano bukel | ||
Indonesian benih | ||
Irish síol | ||
Italian seme | ||
Japanese シード | ||
Javanese winih | ||
Kannada ಬೀಜ | ||
Kazakh тұқым | ||
Khmer ពូជ | ||
Kinyarwanda imbuto | ||
Konkani बियो | ||
Korean 씨 | ||
Krio sid | ||
Kurdish toxim | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) تۆو | ||
Kyrgyz үрөн | ||
Lao ແກ່ນ | ||
Latin semen | ||
Latvian sēklas | ||
Lingala mbuma | ||
Lithuanian sėkla | ||
Luganda ensigo | ||
Luxembourgish som | ||
Macedonian семка | ||
Maithili बीज | ||
Malagasy taranaka | ||
Malay biji | ||
Malayalam വിത്ത് | ||
Maltese żerriegħa | ||
Maori kākano | ||
Marathi बी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯝꯔꯨ | ||
Mizo thlai chi | ||
Mongolian үр | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အမျိုးအနွယ် | ||
Nepali बीज | ||
Norwegian frø | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mbewu | ||
Odia (Oriya) ମଞ୍ଜି | ||
Oromo sanyii | ||
Pashto تخم | ||
Persian دانه | ||
Polish nasionko | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) semente | ||
Punjabi ਬੀਜ | ||
Quechua muhu | ||
Romanian sămânță | ||
Russian семя | ||
Samoan fatu | ||
Sanskrit बीज | ||
Scots Gaelic sìol | ||
Sepedi peu | ||
Serbian семе | ||
Sesotho peo | ||
Shona mhodzi | ||
Sindhi ٻج | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) බීජ | ||
Slovak semienko | ||
Slovenian seme | ||
Somali abuur | ||
Spanish semilla | ||
Sundanese siki | ||
Swahili mbegu | ||
Swedish utsäde | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) binhi | ||
Tajik тухмӣ | ||
Tamil விதை | ||
Tatar орлык | ||
Telugu విత్తనం | ||
Thai เมล็ดพันธุ์ | ||
Tigrinya ዘርኢ | ||
Tsonga mbewu | ||
Turkish tohum | ||
Turkmen tohum | ||
Twi (Akan) aba | ||
Ukrainian насіння | ||
Urdu بیج | ||
Uyghur ئۇرۇق | ||
Uzbek urug ' | ||
Vietnamese hạt giống | ||
Welsh hedyn | ||
Xhosa imbewu | ||
Yiddish זוימען | ||
Yoruba irugbin | ||
Zulu imbewu |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Saad is also an Arabic, Hebrew and Phoenician name meaning fortune or good luck. |
| Albanian | The word "farë" also means "family" in Albanian, as it's the origin for the word "family" in many other languages, such as French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. |
| Amharic | In Amharic, ዘር (zer) also means 'offspring' or 'descendants'. |
| Arabic | In Arabic, "بذرة" can refer both to a physical seed and figuratively to a starting point, origin, or source. |
| Armenian | The word "սերմ" also means "origin" or "cause" in Armenian. |
| Basque | The Basque word "hazia" can also refer to a "sprout" or "offspring." |
| Belarusian | Belarusian "насенне" derives from Middle High German "same(n)" (to collect) and also means "harvest" and "collection" |
| Bengali | In Sanskrit, "bija" also means "germ" or "origin". |
| Bosnian | The word "sjeme" can also refer to a small amount of something, such as a pinch of salt or a drop of water. |
| Bulgarian | In addition to its primary meaning of 'seed', 'семе' also has the metaphorical meaning of 'family' or 'origin' in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | The word "llavor" also refers to the source or origin of something, particularly in a figurative sense. |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, “binhi” can be used colloquially to refer to a young girl. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In Chinese, 种子 (seed) also means "origin" or "source", indicating its pivotal role in the continuation of life. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The Chinese character "種子" can also have the alternate meaning of "origin" or "beginning". |
| Corsican | In Bastia, the word "sumente" is also used for "bean". |
| Croatian | The word "sjeme" also means "meaning" or "intention" in a metaphorical sense. |
| Czech | The word "semínko" can also mean "a small piece of land" or "a small village" in Czech. |
| Danish | Danish "frø" is related to the English "fritter", meaning something of little value that crumbles away. |
| Esperanto | 'Semo' (meaning 'seed' in Esperanto) also refers to a small unit of digital information, used in the Esperanto programming language |
| Estonian | The word "seeme" could be derived from the Proto-Finnic "*siemē", related to sowing, or from the Proto-Uralic "*seme", meaning "that which is spread out." |
| French | La graine (seed) comes from the Late Latin grana (grain), a feminine singular noun, and is a doublet of the word grain. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word “sied” also refers to someone who sows seeds as well as the action of doing so. |
| Galician | In Galician, "semente" means "seed" but it can also refer to any type of "origin" or "source". |
| Georgian | The word "თესლი" is derived from the Proto-Kartvelian root "*tʰes- " meaning "to plant" or "to sow" and is also related to the word "тест" [test] in Russian. |
| German | In Yiddish, "samen" means "poison." |
| Greek | In ancient Greek, 'σπόρος' could mean not only 'seed' but also 'sowing', 'crops' or even 'the product of crops'. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "બીજ" can also mean "source" or "origin". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "grenn" in Haitian Creole has multiple meanings, including "seed" and "small fruit growing on a tree or plant". |
| Hausa | In Hausa, the word "iri" can also mean "grain" or "kernel". |
| Hawaiian | "Hua kana" means "planted seed," or a seed intended for planting, while "hua kanu" specifically means a seed that has not yet sprouted. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word "बीज" (seed) is also used to mean "origin" or "source" in figurative contexts. |
| Hmong | In Hmong, 'noob' can also mean 'a small child,' referring to the small size of a seed. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "mag" (seed) is also used to describe the kernel or "meat" of a fruit, such as a walnut. |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, "fræ" is also used figuratively to mean source of inspiration or knowledge. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word |
| Indonesian | In the Indonesian language, "benih" can also refer to a genetic lineage, especially in the context of plants. |
| Irish | "Síol” can also mean "descendants" (plural), “descendant" (singular), “lineage”, or "family". |
| Italian | The word |
| Japanese | シード is also a loanword, and in addition to 'seed', it can mean 'initial stake', 'tournament seeding', or 'game character with special strength'. |
| Javanese | The word "winih" is also used to refer to a small amount of something, such as a small amount of money or food. |
| Kannada | ಬೀಜ (bīja) originates from Sanskrit, where it also means "source" and can refer to the seed of a plant, the origin of something, or the first cause of an effect. |
| Kazakh | Тұқым in Kazakh can also mean 'kindred' and is cognate with the Mongolian word 'суг' ('seed'). |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "ពូជ" can also mean "race" or "kind". |
| Korean | The word "씨" also means "thing" in Korean, stemming from its use to refer to grains in food. |
| Kurdish | The word "toxim" in Kurdish also means "progeny" or "offspring". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "үрөн" can also refer to a child, a descendant, or a type of plant that produces seeds. |
| Lao | The Laotian word ແກ່ນ shares the same etymological Proto-Tai origin with the Khmer word គ្រាប់ (kraap) and the Siamese word แก่น (kɛːn), all meaning “seed”. |
| Latvian | In Latvian, "sēklas" also refers to "the beginning of something", e.g. "sēklas jaunam uzņēmumam" (a seed for a new business). |
| Lithuanian | "Sėkla" likely derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "sek-," meaning "to sow" or "to scatter." |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, the word "Som" can also mean "germ" or "yeast". |
| Macedonian | The word "семка" can also refer to a pumpkin seed or a sunflower seed. |
| Malagasy | The word "taranaka" in Malagasy can also mean "the act of sowing" or "a seedbed". |
| Malay | The Malay word "biji" also refers to the kernels of coffee or corn and to pellets in general. |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "വിത്ത്" also refers to "a cause or origin" and is the root word of "വിത്തം" meaning "wealth". |
| Maltese | Originating from a Semitic root, the word "żerriegħa" also refers to offspring or progeny in Maltese. |
| Maori | "Kākano" can mean "seed" or "egg" in Maori, and has the added metaphorical meanings of "child" or "potential." |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "बी" also refers to a type of musical instrument known as a "veena" or "tambura". |
| Norwegian | **Frø** may also refer to the Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese word for the island of Frøya. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Mbewu is also used to refer to a person's lineage or ancestry. |
| Persian | Persian word for "seed" ("دانه") has a hidden meaning of "knowledge" with Persian "دانستن" ("to know") having the same Proto-Indo-European root. |
| Polish | "Nasionko" is a diminutive of the word "nasiono" which comes from the Proto-Slavic word "sěmę" meaning "seed, grain". |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, "ਬੀਜ" not only refers to a seed but can also mean "origin" or "source." |
| Romanian | The Romanian word for “seed,” sămânță, is related to the Persian word saman, which means “grass”. |
| Russian | The word "семя" in Russian also means "family" or "origin". |
| Samoan | The word 'fatu' in Samoan is a cognate of the Fijian word 'vatu', which also means seed. |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scots Gaelic, “sìol” can refer to the seed of a plant, as well as the descendant of a person. |
| Serbian | "Семе" also means "testicle". |
| Sesotho | It also refers to a grain or kernel, used in particular for beadmaking and divination purposes, as well as the seed of certain fruit or plants |
| Shona | The word 'mhodzi' also refers to a 'plant' in Shona language. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word 'ٻج' (seed), pronounced as 'bij', is also used as the root term for 'sowing' and is closely related to other Indo-Aryan language terms such as 'bīja' in Sanskrit. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In literature, this word also means 'cause' and 'origin'. |
| Slovak | In addition, "semienko" means "a very short person" in informal use. |
| Slovenian | The word "seme" originates from Proto-Slavic "sēmę", which also meant "fruit". |
| Somali | The word "abuur" in Somali is derived from the Proto-Somali word "*abuuri" meaning "fruit" or "grain". |
| Spanish | "Semilla" comes from the Latin "seminalis" and can also mean "germ" or "beginning of something." |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, 'siki' also refers to a small, pointed nail or a pointed end of something. |
| Swahili | In botanical terminology, 'mbegu' refers to 'seeds' that can germinate, while in agriculture, it can include other plant propagules like tubers. |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "utsäde" is also used metaphorically to refer to the dissemination of ideas or beliefs. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Binhi can refer not only to botanical seeds, but also figuratively to descendants or anything thought to engender something, like an idea or an organization. |
| Tajik | In Persian, this word means 'egg' and is the origin of the term 'tukhm-marg', which means 'scrambled eggs'. |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "விதை" (seed) also means "sowing time" and is related to the word "விதையல்" (farming). |
| Telugu | In ancient times, the meaning of విత్తనం also extended to 'wealth' which is why in Telugu we refer to a rich landlord with many lands and properties as a 'vittanatlu'. |
| Thai | The word "เมล็ดพันธุ์" in Thai is derived from the Sanskrit word "bindu", meaning "point" or "drop", and is related to the concept of potential or growth. |
| Turkish | The Turkish word "tohum" originated from Proto-Turkic "toγum" or Proto-Mongolic "toγun." |
| Ukrainian | The word 'насіння' in Ukrainian not only means 'seed', but also includes the sense of 'offspring' or 'progeny. |
| Uzbek | The word "urug'" in Uzbek also means "root", "origin", or "beginning". |
| Vietnamese | "Hạt giống" (literally "seed kernel") is also a Vietnamese idiom for "potential to develop". |
| Welsh | The word "Hedyn" also has the secondary meanings of "grain, kernel" and "testicle". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word 'imbewu' also refers to the concept of a 'seed' in a metaphorical sense, representing the potential for growth and development. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word זוימען (zoymen) is derived from the Middle High German word "same," meaning "a sown field," and is related to the English word "seam." |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, the word "irugbin" originally denoted a "stone or object with a hole in it used in a Yoruba traditional game called Ayo", later getting its alternate meaning of "seed" from the similarity between the shape of the seed and the original game object. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word for 'seed', 'imbewu', can also refer to a 'nucleus', 'core' or 'essence'. |
| English | "Seed" derives from Old English "sæd," meaning "to sow" or "to plant." |