Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRIM-ING, ppr.

1. Putting powder in the pan of a fire-arm.
2. Laying on the first color.

PRIM-ING-WIRE, n.

A pointed wire, used to penetrate the vent of a piece, for examining the powder of the charge or for piercing the cartridge. – Encyc.

PRI-MIP'I-LAR, a. [L. primipilus, the centurion of the first cohort of a Roman legion.]

Pertaining to the captain of the vanguard. – Barrow.

PRI-MI'TIAL, a.

Being of the first production. – Ainsworth.

PRIM'I-TIVE, a. [It. primitivo; Fr. primitif; L. primitivus; from primus, first.]

1. Pertaining to the beginning or origin; original; first; as, the primitive state of Adam; primitive innocence; primitive ages; the primitive church; the primitive Christian church or institutions; the primitive fathers. – White. Tillotson.
2. Formal; affectedly solemn; imitating the supposed gravity of old times. – Johnson.
3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, a primitive verb in grammar. Primitive colors, in painting, are red, yellow, and blue, from the combinations of which all other colors may be produced. Primitive rocks, in geology, rocks supposed to be first formed, being irregularly crystalized, and aggregated without a cement, and containing no organic remains; as, granite, gneiss, &c.

PRIM'I-TIVE, n.

An original word; a word not derived from another.

PRIM'I-TIVE-LY, adv.

1. Originally; at first. – Brown.
2. Primarily; not derivatively.
3. According to the original rule or ancient practice. – South.

PRIM'I-TIVE-NESS, n.

State of being original; antiquity; conformity to antiquity. – Johnson.

PRIM'I-TY, n.

The state of being original. [Not used.] – Pearson.

PRIM'MED, pp.

Decked with great nicety.

PRIM'NESS, n. [from prim.]

Affected formality or niceness; stiffness; preciseness.

PRIMO, n. [Primo.]

In music, the first or leading part.

PRI-MO-GE'NI-AL, a. [L. primigenius. See Primigenial.]

First born, made or generated; original; primary; constituent; elemental; as, primogenial light; primogenial bodies. – Boyle.

PRI-MO-GEN'I-TOR, n. [L. primus, first, and genitor, father.]

The first father or forefather. – Gayton.

PRI-MO-GEN'I-TURE, n. [L. primus, first, and genitus, begotten.]

1. The state of being born first of the same parents; seniority by birth among children.
2. In law, the right which belongs to the eldest son or daughter. Thus in Great Britain, the right of inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family, the eldest son of the king is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. Among the females, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue. – Blackstone. Before the Revolution, primogeniture, in some of the American colonies, entitled the eldest son to a double portion of his father's estate, but this right has been abolished.

PRI-MO-GEN'I-TURE-SHIP, n.

The right of eldership.

PRI-MOR'DI-AL, a. [Fr. from L. primordialis, primordium; primus, first, and ordo, order.]

First in order; original; existing from the beginning. – Boyle.

PRI-MOR'DI-AL, n.

Origin; first principle or element. – More.

PRI-MOR'DI-AN, n.

A kind of plum.

PRI-MOR'DI-ATE, a. [See Primordial.]

Original; existing from the first. – Boyle.

PRIMP, v.i.

To be formal or affected. [Not English, or local.]

PRIM'ROSE, n. [s as z. L. primula veris; primus, first, and rosa, a rose, literally, the first or an early rose in spring.]

A plant of the genus Primula, of several varieties, as the white, the red, the yellow flowered, &c. Shakspeare used the word for gay or flowery; as, the primrose way.

PRIMUM-MOBILE, n. [Primum mobile. L.]

First cause of motion. In the Ptolemaic system, the outermost sphere of the universe, which was supposed to give motion to all the others.

PRIMUS-INTER-PARES, a. [Primus inter pares. L.]

Chief among equals.

PRI'MY, a.

Blooming. [Not wed.] – Shak.