germination vs seedling stage

a seed typical germinates under the substrate and when it sprouts (breaks ground) it's a seedling. somemethods of germination make this a bit of a grey area, so if you don't plant direclty in substrate, i'd say the moment most shed their shells and 'developed' leaves pop out. since you end up burying the tap root and having teh sprout already above ground from get-go. you got a live sprout, so it's a seedling. Even though some of these disctintions have a specific definition, it's more about observation of maturity of any single plant. some demand more light sooner... as far as i'm concerned if the plant is acting like a mature plant it is a mature plant regardless of a definition not directly tied to causality and justmeant as a general guide as opposed to written in stone in this case. grey areas... thnk of how we describe/definie human development and how much variation there is from those categorizations. some go through puberty at 12 others 14... same with plants although less complicated dynamics with a less complicated lifeform.