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Stem vs Seed - What's the difference?

stem | seed |

In countable|lang=en terms the difference between stem and seed

is that stem is (countable) while seed is (countable) the initial state, condition or position of a changing, growing or developing process; the ultimate precursor in a defined chain of precursors.

In uncountable|lang=en terms the difference between stem and seed

is that stem is (uncountable) while seed is (uncountable) semen.

As nouns the difference between stem and seed

is that stem is (countable) while seed is (senseid)(countable) a fertilized grain, initially encased in a fruit, which may grow into a mature plant.

As a verb seed is

to plant or sow an area with seeds.

stem

English

(wikipedia stem)

Etymology 1

(etyl) stemn, .

Noun

(en noun)
  • The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors.
  • * Milton
    • all that are of noble stem
  • * Herbert
    • While I do pray, learn here thy stem / And true descent.
  • A branch of a family.
  • * Shakespeare
    • This is a stem / Of that victorious stock.
  • An advanced or leading position; the lookout.
  • * Fuller
    • Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years.
  • (botany) The above-ground stalk (technically axis) of a vascular plant, and certain anatomically similar, below-ground organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, and corms.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
    • After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a very large top, having no bough nor twig in the trunk or the stem .
  • A slender supporting member of an individual part of a plant such as a flower or a leaf; also, by analogy, the shaft of a feather.
    • the stem of an apple or a cherry
  • *
  • A narrow part on certain man-made objects, such as a wine glass, a tobacco pipe, a spoon.
  • (linguistic morphology) The main part of an uninflected]] word to which affixes may be added to form inflections of the word. A stem often has a more fundamental root. Systematic conjugations and [[declension, declensions derive from their stems.
  • (typography) A vertical stroke of a letter.
  • (music) A vertical stroke of a symbol representing a note in written music.
  • (nautical) The vertical or nearly vertical forward extension of the keel, to which the forward ends of the planks or strakes are attached.
    • Derived terms
    * brain stem * from stem to stern * stem cell * stemless * stemplot * unstemmed

    Verb

    (stemm)
  • To remove the stem from.
    • to stem''' cherries; to '''stem tobacco leaves
  • To be caused]] or [[derive, derived; to originate.
    • The current crisis stems from the short-sighted politics of the previous government.
  • To descend in a family line.
  • To direct the stem (of a ship) against; to make headway against.
  • (obsolete) To hit with the stem of a ship; to ram.
  • * 1596 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , IV.ii:
    • As when two warlike Brigandines at sea, / With murdrous weapons arm'd to cruell fight, / Doe meete together on the watry lea, / They stemme ech other with so fell despight, / That with the shocke of their owne heedlesse might, / Their wooden ribs are shaken nigh a sonder
  • To ram (clay, etc.) into a blasting hole.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . Cognate with German stemmen, Dutch stemmen, stempen; compare (stammer).

    Verb

    (stemm)
  • To stop, hinder (for instance, a river or blood).
    • to stem a tide
  • * Denham
    • [They] stem the flood with their erected breasts.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age.
  • (skiing) To move the feet apart and point the tips of the skis inward in order to slow down the speed or to facilitate a turn.
    • Synonyms
    * (sense) to be due to, to arise from * See also

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    (en noun)

    • External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    seed

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia seed)
  • (senseid)(countable) A fertilized grain, initially encased in a fruit, which may grow into a mature plant.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
    • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • (countable, botany) A fertilized ovule, containing an embryonic plant.
  • (uncountable) An amount of fertilized grain that cannot be readily counted.
  • (uncountable) Semen.
  • (countable) A precursor.
  • (countable) The initial state, condition or position of a changing, growing or developing process; the ultimate precursor in a defined chain of precursors.
  • # The initial position of a competitor or team in a tournament. (seed position)
  • The team with the best regular season record receives the top seed in the conference tournament.
  • # The competitor or team occupying a given seed. (seed position)
  • The rookie was a surprising top seed .
  • # Initialization state of a . (seed number)
  • If you use the same seed you will get exactly the same pattern of numbers.
  • # Commercial message in a creative format placed on relevant sites on the Internet. (seed idea or seed message)
  • The latest seed has attracted a lot of users in our online community.
  • Offspring, descendants, progeny.
    • the seed of Abraham
  • * 1590 , , II.x:
    • Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raind, / But had no issue male him to succeed, / But three faire daughters, which were well vptraind, / In all that seemed fit for kingly seed
  • Race; generation; birth.
  • * Waller
    • Of mortal seed they were not held.

    Usage notes

    The common use of seed differs from the botanical use. The “seeds” of sunflowers are botanically fruits.

    Derived terms

    * crack seed * go to seed * seedcake * seedling * seed potato * seedy * spill one's seed

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To plant or sow an area with seeds.
    • I seeded my lawn with bluegrass.
  • To cover thinly with something scattered; to ornament with seedlike decorations.
  • * Ben Jonson
    • a sable mantle seeded with waking eyes
  • To start; to provide, assign or determine the initial resources for, position of, state of.
    • A venture capitalist seeds young companies.
    The tournament coordinator will seed the starting lineup with the best competitors from the qualifying round.
    The programmer seeded fresh, uncorrupted data into the database before running unit tests.
  • (sports, games) To allocate a seeding to a competitor.
  • To be able to compete (especially in a quarter-final/semi-final/final).
    • The tennis player seeded into the quarters.
  • To ejaculate inside the penetratee during intercourse, especially in the rectum.

    • Anagrams

    *