Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SEED, n. [Sax. sæd; G. saat; D. zaad; Dan. sæd; Sw. säd; from the verb sow. Chn. W. hâd, Arm. had.]

1. The substance, animal or vegetable, which nature prepares for the reproduction and conservation of the species. The seeds of plants are a deciduous part, containing the rudiments of a new vegetable. In some cases, the seeds constitute the fruit or valuable part of plants, as in the case of wheat and other esculent grain; sometimes the seeds are inclosed in the fruit, as in apples and melons. When applied to animal matter, it has no plural.
2. That from which any thing springs; first principle; original; as, the seeds of virtue or vice. – Hooker.
3. Principle of production. Praise of great acts he scatters as a seed. – Waller.
4. Progeny; offspring; children; descendants; as, the seed of Abraham; the sea of David. In this sense, the word it applied to one person, or to any number collectively, and admits of the plural form; but rarely used in the plural.
5. Race; generation; birth. Of mortal seed they were not held.