The word 'sperm' entered English in the late 14th century via Late Latin 'sperma', which itself originated from the Greek 'σπέρμα' (sperma), meaning 'seed, semen'. This Greek noun derived from the verb 'σπείρειν' (speirein), meaning 'to sow, to scatter seed'. The fundamental logic connects the ancient agricultural act of sowing seeds into the earth with the biological function of the male reproductive cell in sowing the potential for new life. Over centuries, the term narrowed from its broader Greek sense of 'seed' in general to its precise modern biological meaning, while retaining the seminal (from Latin 'semen', also 'seed') metaphor at its core.

The word is a simplex loanword from Greek. It cannot be meaningfully segmented into productive morphemes within modern English spelling without resorting to etymological variants not present in the current form.