prime

English Online Dictionary. What means prime‎? What does prime mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English prime, from Old French prime and its etymon, Latin prīmus (“first”), from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond, before”). Doublet of primo and primus.

The noun sense "apostrophe-like symbol" originates from the fact that the symbol ′ was originally a superscript Roman numeral one.

Pronunciation

• enPR: prīm, IPA^(key): /pɹaɪ̯m/
• Hyphenation: prime
• Rhymes: -aɪm

Adjective

prime (comparative primer, superlative primest)

1. First in importance, degree, or rank.

   Synonyms: greatest, main, most important, primary, principal, top

2. First in time, order, or sequence.

   Synonyms: earliest, first, original
3. First in excellence, quality, or value.

   Synonyms: excellent, top quality
4. (mathematics, lay) Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).

5. (mathematics, technical) Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.
6. (algebra, of an ideal) Having its complement closed under multiplication.
7. (algebra, of a nonzero module) Such that the annihilator of any nonzero submodule is equal to the annihilator of the whole module.
8. Marked or distinguished by the prime symbol.
9. Early; blooming; being in the first stage.
10. (obsolete) Lecherous, lewd, lustful.

Synonyms

• (having no nontrivial factors): indivisible

Hyponyms

• biprime
• pseudoprime
• semiprime
• (having exactly two integral factors): coprime

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

prime (plural primes)

1. (historical) The first hour of daylight; the first canonical hour.
2. (Christianity) The religious service appointed to this hour.
3. (obsolete) The early morning generally.
4. (now rare) The earliest stage of something.
   • 1645, Edmund Waller, “To a very young Lady” (earlier title: “To my young Lady Lucy Sidney”) in Poems, &c. Written upon Several Occasions, and to Several Persons, London: H. Herringman, 1686, p. 101,^[1]

     Hope waits upon the flowry prime,

5. The most active, thriving, or successful stage or period.
6. The chief or best individual or part.
   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, “To a Lady, who desired the author to write some verses upon her in the heroic style” in The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, London: W. Bowyer et al., Volume 7, p. 396,^[4]

     Give no more to ev’ry guest

     Than he’s able to digest:

     Give him always of the prime;

     And but a little at a time.

7. Something which is first in importance or rank: a prime defense company, mortgage lender, etc.
   • 2023 December 4, Can Palmer Luckey Reinvent the U.S. Defense Industry? - WSJ, The Wall Street Journal:

     The large primes are struggling to do things the way Anduril does, because they're publicly traded companies with an existing investor class that invested in them to be a certain type of company.

8. (music) The first note or tone of a musical scale.
9. (fencing) The first defensive position, with the sword hand held at head height, and the tip of the sword at head height.
10. (algebra, number theory) A prime element of a mathematical structure, particularly a prime number.

11. (card games) A four-card hand containing one card of each suit in the game of primero; the opposite of a flush in poker.
12. (backgammon) A series of consecutive blocks. A prime of six prevents the opponent's pieces from passing.

13. The symbol ′ used to indicate feet, minutes, derivation and other measures and mathematical operations.
14. (chemistry, obsolete) Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1.
15. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system.
16. (obsolete) The priming in a flintlock.
17. (film) Contraction of prime lens, a film lens.
    • Tomlinson, Shawn M. (2015) Going Pro for $200 & How to Choose a Prime Lens, →ISBN, page 72: “By the time I shifted to my first autofocus film SLR with the Pentax PZ-10, primes were considered things of the past”
18. A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.
19. (psychology) A stimulus which causes priming.

Synonyms

• (early morning generally): See Thesaurus:early morning or Thesaurus:morning
• (most active, thriving, or successful stage or period): bloom, blossom, efflorescence, flower, flush, heyday, peak
• (chief or best individual or part): choice, prize, quality, select
• (algebra: prime element of a mathematical structure): prime number (when an integer)
• (A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.): white

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “algebra: prime element of a mathematical structure”): composite

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Related to primage and Latin prīmus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: prīm, IPA^(key): /pɹaɪ̯m/
• Rhymes: -aɪm
• Hyphenation: prime

Verb

prime (third-person singular simple present primes, present participle priming, simple past and past participle primed)

1. (transitive) To fill or prepare the chamber of a mechanism for its main work.

2. (transitive) To apply a coat of primer paint to.

3. (obsolete, intransitive) To be renewed.
4. (intransitive) To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.
5. (intransitive, of a steam boiler) To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed.
6. To apply priming to (a musket or cannon); to apply a primer to (a metallic cartridge).
7. To prepare; to make ready.
8. (archaic) To instruct beforehand, as for an examination; to coach.

9. (UK, dialect, obsolete) To trim or prune.

10. (mathematics) To mark with a prime mark.

Synonyms

• (to apply a coat of primer paint to): ground, undercoat

Derived terms

• prime the pump
• prime up

Translations

Etymology 3

From French prime (“reward, prize, bonus”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹiːm/
• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

prime (plural primes)

1. (cycling) An intermediate sprint within a race, usually offering a prize and/or points.

Derived terms

• primer

Related terms

Anagrams

• emirp, imper., Perim, Priem

Albanian

Etymology

From proj (“to guard, defend”).

Noun

prime f pl (definite plural primet)

1. remedies

Related terms

• proj

References

French

Etymology

From the feminine of Old French prim, prin, from Latin prīmus.

Noun from English premium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁim/
• Rhymes: -im
• Homophones: primes, prîmes

Adjective

prime (plural primes)

1. (obsolete outside of set phrases) first

   Synonym: premier

   de prime abord ― at first glance

   prime jeunesse ― first flush of youth

Related terms

• primer
• primat
• primesautier

Noun

prime f (plural primes)

1. reward; prize; bonus
2. premium (insurance policy)

Derived terms

• chasseur de primes
• en prime
• prime de départ
• prime de bienvenue

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: پریم (prim)
  • Turkish: prim

Further reading

• “prime”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• imper

Interlingua

Adjective

prime

1. first

Italian

Adjective

prime

1. feminine plural of primo

Anagrams

• premi

Latin

Numeral

prīme

1. vocative masculine singular of prīmus

References

• “prime”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• prime in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Verb

prime

1. inflection of premir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpri.me]

Adjective

prime

1. nominative/accusative feminine/neuter plural of prim

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

prime (Cyrillic spelling приме)

1. third-person plural present of primiti

Spanish

Verb

prime

1. inflection of premir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative
2. inflection of primar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Tarantino

Adjective

prime

1. first