# semen
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English semen, from Latin sēmen (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow; plant”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsiːmən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːmən
* Homophone: seaman

### Noun

semen (usually uncountable, plural semens)
* A sticky, milky fluid produced in male reproductive organs that contains the reproductive cells.
** 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 80:Sharp protein odor of semen fills the air.
** 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

* semen demon
* semenlike
* semenologist
* semeny
* seminoma

#### Translations

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 (zing$^1$ jik$^6$), 精 (zing$^1$)
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), 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 (ja) (zāmen)
Karok: síshaf
Khmer: ទឹកកាម (km) (tɨk kaam)
Korean: 정액(精液) (ko) (jeong'aek), (slang) 좆물 (jonmul),
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: تۆواو (towaw)
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
Old Czech: chám 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: sjeme (sh) n, ejakulat (sh) m, svršotina f
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, acabadura f (colloquial), cabadura f (vulgar)
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 (tuxmi), манӣ (mani)
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 (uk) n (nasínnja)
Urdu: ویریہ m (vīrya), منی
Uzbek: sperma (uz)
Vietnamese: tinh dịch (vi) (精液)
Yiddish: זוימען (zoymen)
Zazaki: sêmeni :

#### See also

* semen contra

### Anagrams

* menes, mense, mesen, mesne, neems

## 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

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈsɛ.mən]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈse.men]

### Noun

semen m (plural sèmens or sémens)
* semen, sperm
    Synonym: esperma

### Further reading

* “semen” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈsɛmɛn]

### Noun

semen
* genitive plural of semeno

## Indonesian
### Etymology 1

Borrowed 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

* IPA: /səˈmɛn/
* Rhymes: -mɛn, -ɛn, -n
* Hyphenation: sê‧mèn

#### Noun

sêmèn (plural semen-semen)
* 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

* bersemen
* menyemen
* penyemenan
* semenan
* tersemen

### Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin sēmen (“semen, seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow; plant”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɛmɛn/
* Rhymes: -mɛn, -ɛn, -n
* Hyphenation: sè‧mèn

#### Noun

sèmèn (plural semen-semen)
* (medicine) semen, the fluid, produced in male reproductive organs of an animal, that contains the reproductive cells.
    Synonym: air mani

##### Alternative forms

* sémen (Standard Malay)

##### Related terms

* seminar
* seminari
* seminaris

### Further reading

* “semen” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Latin
### Etymology

From Proto-Italic *sēmən, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥ (“seed”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈseː.men/, [ˈs̠eːmɛn]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈse.men/, [ˈsɛːmen]

### 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 [it was] I [who] scattered new seeds throughout countless nations! Previously the earth was of [but] 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.))
** c. 99 BCE – 55 BCE, Lucretius, De rerum natura 6:et ignis sēmina convolvunt ē nūbibus.and the seeds of fire roll from the clouds.

#### Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

#### Derived terms

* sēmentifer
* sēmentis
* sēminālia
* sēminālis
* sēminārium
* sēminārius
* sēminātiō
* sēminātor
* sēminifer
* sēminium
* sēminiverbius
* sēminō
* sēminōsus

#### Descendants

* Italian: seme
* Romansch: sem
* Venetan: sema
* → Catalan: semen
* → English: semen
* → Middle Irish: semen
** Irish: seamhan
* → Galician: seme
* → Portuguese: sêmen, sémen (Portugal)
* → Spanish: semen, ⇒ semilla

### 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

* semel

### Etymology

From Arabic سَمْن (samn).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɛ.mɛn/
* Rhymes: -ɛmɛn

### 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

* seme, semi

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈseːmən/

#### 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

$^1$ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### References

* “sẹ̄men, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old Norse sœma, from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną, thus a doublet of Etymology 1.

#### Alternative forms

* cemyn, seeme, seemen, seme, semy, semyn

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈseːmən/

#### 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

$^1$ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### Related terms

* bisemen
* seme
* semly

##### Descendants

* English: seem
* Scots: seem

##### References

* “sẹ̄men, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 3

Inherited from Old English sīman, sēman, from Proto-West Germanic *saumijan; equivalent to seem (“load”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

#### Alternative forms

* seme

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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

$^1$ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### References

* “sẹ̄men, v.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## 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: /ˈsemen/ [ˈse.mẽn]
* 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.
    La última vez que estuve en un acto sexual yo era el semen.The last time I was in a sex act I was the semen.

#### Related terms

* inseminar
* semilla
* seminal
* seminoma

### Further reading

* “semen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Veps
### Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *seemen, from a Baltic language, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥.

### Noun

semen
* seed

#### Derived terms

* semeta
* semenjaugaine
* semenvil'l'

### References

* Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “семя”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎, Petrozavodsk: Periodika