The act of planting seeds in soil to grow crops, or metaphorically, to introduce an idea or cause a situation.
From Old English 'sawan' meaning 'to plant seeds.' Related to 'seed' and dates back to Proto-Germanic roots describing the agricultural action.
We use 'sowing seeds' metaphorically all the time—'sowing discord,' 'sowing doubt'—borrowing from farming because planting something small creates massive results later, just like words or ideas do!
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