Emily Dickinson Lexicon

primeval, adj. [L. prīmæv-us, in the first period of life < prīm-us, first + aev-um, age.] (webplay: age, cloth, grow).

Original; primitive; ancient; prehistoric; age-old; created before human memory; existing since time immemorial.

primogeniture, n. [L. prīmō, first + genitūr-am, begetting < gigněre, to beget.]

Birthright; privilege; prerogative; inheritance; entitlement; heritage; legacy; right of the firstborn; [fig.] privilege of resurrection inherited from Jesus Christ.

primrose, adj. [Late ME < L. prima rosa, first or earliest rose.] (webplay: day, hour, king, life, rose).

Primula vulgaris; flower found in woods; plant that has short leafless stems and a single blossom.

prince (-s), n. [Fr. < L. princeps, first or principal person, chief, leader, sovereign, prince < prīm-us, first.] (webplay: dominions, eldest, emperor, estate, first, gold, grand, high, king, lady, place, power, royal, son, state, world).

1. Ruler; sovereign; governor; lord; master.
2. Chief; owner; possessor; proprietor.
3. Hero; paragon; worshiped individual.
4. God; deity; divine ruler; Almighty Lord.

principally (princip'ly), adv. [Fr. < L. principāl-us, first, chief, original, primitive < princeps, see prince.]

Chiefly; mainly; mostly; largely; above all; for the most part.

principle, n. [Fr. principe or L. principium, beginning, origin, source, first place; see prince, n.] (webplay: believed, element).

1. Constitution; character; innocent state; initial condition; fundamental set of attributes; [word play on “prince” or “principal”] creator; author; father; lord; God.
2. Truth; belief; axiom; tenet; doctrine; precept; perception of reality; fundamental understanding of life; [fig.] solo; song; melody; music; tune; hymn; rhapsody; [metaphor] ode; lyric poem.

print, n. [ME < OFr preinte, impression of a seal < L. prem-ěre, press.] (webplay: footsteps).

Mark; impression; indentation; track; evidence of previous presence.

print (-ed), v. [ME < OFr prente, see print, n.] (webplay: single).

1. Write; publish; publicize; [fig.] communicate; reveal; tell.
2. Engrave; etch characters into a surface; carve on a headstone.

Priscilla, proper n. [dim. of L. Prisca, 'ancient'.]

Priscilla Mullins Alden (1598-1650); daughter of William Mullins and Alice Wood; female character in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Courtship of Miles Standish; woman that married John Alden after he courted her by proxy for Miles Standish; [fig.] humankind; mortals; the Church as a Bride for the Bridegroom Redeemer.

prism, n. [Late L. prisma < Gk πρίσμα, a thing sawn, prism < πρίζιν, to saw.]

1. Triangular geometrical form of transparent glass that refracts light into the colors of the spectrum; [fig.] magnifying glass; instrument which makes the internal beauty of an object visible; device that creates a deceptively beautiful image from the fleeting play of light.
2. [Fig.] ice; crystal; frozen realm; inaccessible region.