Seminarians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who are enrolled in a seminary for religious education and training to become clergy or religious leaders
2. Students engaged in theological study who are preparing for roles within a particular faith community
3. Trainees in institutions that provide advanced religious instruction and spiritual formation for future ministerial service

Etymology: Seminarians are, quite literally, people who belong to a "seminarium," the Latin word for a seedbed. The metaphor comes from agriculture: the Latin root "semen" means seed, and a seminary was a place where young plants were raised before being transplanted. Over time the image was applied to people, so a seminary became a nursery for future clergy, and the men trained there became seminarians. The word itself is a plain formation. "Seminary" came into English first, and "seminarian" was built on it by adding the suffix "-an," which marks a person connected with something. Its history therefore runs through the older noun rather than being a separate coinage, and the suffix follows a pattern found in many English words for people, such as "librarian" and "historian."