prime

adj

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.

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.”

   “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.”

3. First in excellence, quality, or value.

   “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,' […]”

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.

   “[...] 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.”

10. Lecherous, lewd, lustful.

    “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: [...]”

name

1. A surname.

noun

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

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

   “Most primes are won with gaps on the field; most sprints are in bunches.”

verb

Etymology: Related to primage and Latin prīmus.

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

   “You'll have to press this button twice to prime the fuel pump.”

2. To apply a coat of primer paint to.

   “I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat.”

3. To be renewed.

   “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.”

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

   “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.”

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.”

   ““He’s priming himself,” Osborne whispered to Dobbin, and at length the hour and the carriage arrived for Vauxhall.”

8. To instruct beforehand, as for an examination; to coach.

   “to prime a witness”

9. To trim or prune.

   “to prime trees”

10. To mark with a prime mark.