Question: what is the etymology of the term "number one seed" as in a tennis tournament? 

Answer: seed (v.) \n    "to produce seed," c.1374; "to sow with seed," c.1440; from seed (n.). Sporting (originally tennis) sense (1898) is from notion of spreading certain players' names so as to insure they will not meet early in a tournament. The noun in this sense is attested from 1933.
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