prime
Part of speech: adj
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: algebra
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
technical
Etymology: 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.
Inflected forms:
form: primer
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: primest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: primes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: priming
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: primed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: primed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: First in importance, degree, or rank.
pos: adj
examples: Our prime concern here is to keep the community safe.
gloss: First in time, order, or sequence.
pos: adj
examples: Both the English and French governments established prime meridians in their capitals.
I thought it lawful from my forme act, / And the ſame end ; ſtill watching to oppreſs / Iſrael’s oppreſſours : of what now I ſuffer / She was not the prime cauſe, but I my ſelf, / Who vanquiſht with a peal of words (O weakneſs !) / Gave up my fort of ſilence to a Woman.
Better to clear prime forests, heave and thump / A league of street in summer solstice down, / Than hammer at this reverend gentlewoman.
The process of recording a transaction in the accounts begins with an entry in what is termed a book of prime entry.
gloss: First in excellence, quality, or value.
pos: adj
examples: This is a prime location for a bookstore.
Gemmen (says he), you all well know / The joy there is whene'er we meet; / It's what I call the primest go, / And rightly named, 'tis—'quite a treat,' […]
"Is it very pleasant to be there, Bob?" / "Prime," said the turnkey.
Average cost, 10d. to 18. per lb. for the primest parts.
gloss: Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).
pos: adj
examples: Thirteen is a prime number.
gloss: Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.
pos: adj
gloss: Having its complement closed under multiplication.
pos: adj
gloss: Such that the annihilator of any nonzero submodule is equal to the annihilator of the whole module.
pos: adj
gloss: Marked or distinguished by the prime symbol.
pos: adj
gloss: Early; blooming; being in the first stage.
pos: adj
examples: [...] His ſtarrie Helme unbuckl’d ſhew’d him prime / In Manhood where Youth ended ; by his ſide / As in a glittering Zodiac hung the Sword, / Satans dire dread, and in his hand the Spear.
gloss: Lecherous, lewd, lustful.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: It is impoſſible you ſhould ſee this, / Were they as prime as Goates, as hot as Monkies, / As ſalt as Wolues, in pride; and fooles as groſſe / As ignorance made drunke: [...]
gloss: To fill or prepare the chamber of a mechanism for its main work.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: You'll have to press this button twice to prime the fuel pump.
gloss: To apply a coat of primer paint to.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat.
gloss: To be renewed.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
examples: Nights baſhfull Empreſſe, though ſhe often wayne, / As oft repents her darkneſſe ; primes againe ; / And with her circling Hornes does re-embrace / Her brothers wealth, and orbs her ſilver face.
gloss: To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: 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.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Although we took our eight bogies along to Whitstable at 60 m.p.h., and made a clean start from there, after Herne Bay the engine primed badly on Blacksole Bank and nearly stopped before we got over the top. Then we ran like the wind across the marshes with half-regulator, 30 per cent cut-off, and the engine blowing off.
gloss: To apply priming to (a musket or cannon); to apply a primer to (a metallic cartridge).
pos: verb
gloss: To prepare; to make ready.
pos: verb
examples: The boys are primed for mischief.
“He’s priming himself,” Osborne whispered to Dobbin, and at length the hour and the carriage arrived for Vauxhall.
gloss: To instruct beforehand, as for an examination; to coach.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
examples: to prime a witness
gloss: To trim or prune.
pos: verb
tags: UK
dialectal
obsolete
examples: to prime trees
gloss: To mark with a prime mark.
pos: verb
Derived words: almost prime
book of prime entry
co-prime
egg prime directive
essential prime implicant
in prime twig
interprime
megaprime
non-essential prime implicant
prime constellation
prime contract
prime contractor
prime cost
prime-cut
prime cut
prime decomposition
prime directive
prime factor
prime factorisation
prime factorization
prime field
prime form
prime formula
prime gap
prime ideal
prime implicant
primely
prime meridian
prime minister
prime ministerial
prime ministership
prime ministry
prime mover
primeness
prime number
prime-numbered
prime number theorem
prime rate
prime reciprocal magic square
prime rib
prime ring
prime subring
prime suspect
prime time
prime-time
pump-prime
relatively prime
subprime
sub-prime
twin prime pair
nonprime
unprime
overprime
crossprime
deprime
misprime
primability
prime the pump
prime up
reprime
Translations: