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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

prime.

First in importance, degree, or rank.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/pɹaɪ̯m/
  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.
  3. First in excellence, quality, or value.

    This is a prime location for a bookstore.
  4. Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).

    Thirteen is a prime number.
  5. Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.

  6. Having its complement closed under multiplication.

  7. 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. Lecherous, lewd, lustful.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/pɹaɪ̯m/
  1. The first hour of daylight; the first canonical hour.

    historical
  2. The religious service appointed to this hour.

  3. The early morning generally.

    obsolete
  4. The earliest stage of something.

    archaic
  5. The most active, thriving, or successful stage or period.

  6. The chief or best individual or part.

  7. Something which is first in importance or rank: a prime defense company, mortgage lender, etc.

  8. The first note or tone of a musical scale.

  9. The first defensive position, with the sword hand held at head height, and the tip of the sword at head height.

  10. A prime element of a mathematical structure, particularly a prime number.

    3 is a prime.
  11. A four-card hand containing one card of each suit in the game of primero; the opposite of a flush in poker.

  12. A series of consecutive blocks. A prime of six prevents the opponent's pieces from passing.

    I'm threatening to build a prime here.
  13. The symbol ′ used to indicate feet, minutes, derivation and other measures and mathematical operations.

  14. 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.

    obsolete
  15. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system.

  16. The priming in a flintlock.

    obsolete
  17. Contraction of prime lens, a film lens.

    abbreviation · alt-of · contraction
  18. A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.

  19. A stimulus which causes priming.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/pɹaɪ̯m/
  1. To fill or prepare the chamber of a mechanism for its main work.

    transitive
    You'll have to press this button twice to prime the fuel pump.
  2. To apply a coat of primer paint to.

    transitive
    I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat.
  3. To be renewed.

    intransitive · obsolete
  4. To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.

    intransitive
  5. 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.

    intransitive
  6. To apply priming to (a musket or cannon); to apply a primer to (a metallic cartridge).

  7. To prepare; to make ready.

    The boys are primed for mischief.
  8. To instruct beforehand, as for an examination; to coach.

    archaic
    to prime a witness
  9. To trim or prune.

    UK · dialectal · obsolete
    to prime trees
  10. To mark with a prime mark.

Where this word comes from

Related to primage and Latin prīmus.

noun/pɹiːm/
  1. An intermediate sprint within a race, usually offering a prize and/or points.

Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.