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Original · left

Seed (botany)

The reproductive unit of a flowering plant capable of developing into an identical plant.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Random seed

An initial baseline value supplied to a pseudorandom number generator algorithm to initialize its predictable output sequence.

First in use: the 1940s

Seed / Seed (botany) / Random seed

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Sprouts vs. reproducible randomness.

Which meaning of Seed is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Seed (botany) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Random seed arrived in the 1940s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Seed (botany)Random seed
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Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Seed (botany)

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Duplicate · the 1940s

Random seed

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More duplicated terms

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