Is "seminal" safe to use in a formal text?

Solution 1:

The word has two meanings. Both have to do with generation, one of life and the other of ideas or artifacts. No serious reader will confuse what you mean if you call a specific book a seminal work. Only a grammar school or junior high school boy would think of Portnoy and imagine that he'd thought the book was a chunk of liver.

From MW3: Main Entry: seminal

Function: adjective

Etymology:Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin seminalis, from semin-, semen seed + -alis -al --- more at SEMEN

1 : of, derived from, containing, or consisting of seed or semen [seminal vessels]

2 : having the character of an originative power, principle, or source : containing or contributing the seeds of later development : GERMINATIVE, ORIGINAL [existentialism ... has at least acted as a seminal force, inducing other and perhaps contradictory ideas— Philip Toynbee] [fruitful dialectical interplay between literary history and literary criticism, the seminal ideas of one discipline influencing the growth of the other— C.I.Glicksberg] [one of the great seminal minds of our age, ... a thinker whose insights have become a part of our cultural heritage— Sidney Ratner]

Solution 2:

In the context of an academic paper, I think you'll be safe. The word should be readily properly understood by your audience, as groundbreaking papers and research are often labeled as seminal works. No one will be "confused."

For what it's worth, NOAD lists as its first meaning:

seminal (adj):
1) (of a work, event, moment, or figure) strongly influencing later developments

and lists the other meaning as a secondary meaning.

Solution 3:

There is about zero chance of genuine confusion, but depending on the subject and context the allusion or image may be present in the minds of some readers. You have to decide for yourself whether this is liable to be a significant risk with your target audience and whether the worst case outcome of people noting the 'shadow meaning' is liable to be unnacceptable.

eg If the target audience is liable to be loud and bawdy (unlikely from what you say) or given to crudity, obscurely creative sexual jest etc - as is definitely the case in some cases, then I'd avoid the usage.

Similarly, if the subject area was related to reproductive health, women's affairs or anything where sex played a legitimate or probable role then I'g find some other word to use.

One risk is that your audience are well bahevaed mature people with clean minds and strength as the strength of ten BUT that a follow on speaker or an introducer decides to make a joke based on your material. Such things happen n occasion.

Again , you are going to need to assess the risk and likely consequences.

Or, look through : Ground breaking, earth shattering, revolutionary, innovative, leading edge, phenomenal, early innovator, industry leader, break-through, unprecedented, unique, ...

Solution 4:

If it's an academic text, your readers will be familiar with the meaning that you intend. There should be no risk of confusion.