prime
//pɹaɪ̯m//
Forms
- Comparative
- primer
- Superlative
- primest
- Plural
- primes
Definitions
1.First in importance, degree, or rank.
- Our prime concern here is to keep the community safe.
2.First in time, order, or sequence.
- Both the English and French governments established prime meridians in their capitals.
- The process of recording a transaction in the accounts begins with an entry in what is termed a book of prime entry.
- Better to clear prime forests, heave and thump / A league of street in summer solstice down, / Than hammer at this reverend gentlewoman.
3.First in excellence, quality, or value.
- This is a prime location for a bookstore.
- Average cost, 10d. to 18. per lb. for the primest parts.
- "Is it very pleasant to be there, Bob?" / "Prime," said the turnkey.
4.Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).
- Thirteen is a prime number.
1.The religious service appointed to this hour.
2.The most active, thriving, or successful stage or period.
- Once upon a time you dressed so fine. You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?
- None but foreigners, excluded by their religion from the cemeteries of the country, are deposited here […]. The far greater part had been cut off in their prime, by unexpected disease or fatal accident.
3.The chief or best individual or part.
4.Something which is first in importance or rank: a prime defense company, mortgage lender, etc.
- 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.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1959
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
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.