prime´ness

prime¹ «prym», adjective, noun.

–adj.

1. first in rank or importance; chief: »

His prime object was to get enough to eat. The community's prime need is a new school.

SYNONYM(S): principal.

2. Figurative. first in time or order; primary; fundamental; original: »

the prime causes of war.

SYNONYM(S): primordial.

3. first in quality; first-rate; excellent: »

prime interest rates, a prime cut of meat.

4. having no common integral divisor but 1 and the number itself: »

7, 11, and 13 are prime numbers.

5. having no common integral divisor but 1: »

2 is prime to 9.

6. ranking high or highest in some scale or rating system: »

prime borrowers, prime time on television.

7. (of beef and veal) being the best grade of meat; having red flesh that is firm, flavorful, and somewhat fatty.

╂[partly < Latin prīmus first, partly < Old French prime, learned borrowing from Latin]

–n.

1. the best time; best condition: »

A man of forty is in the prime of life.

2. the best part.

3. Figurative. the first part; beginning: »

We see how quickly sundry arts mechanical were found out, in the very prime of the world (Richard Hooker).

4. springtime: »

And brought him presents, flowers, if it were prime, Or mellow fruit if it were harvest time (Edmund Spenser).

5. early manhood or womanhood; youth: »

They were now in the happy prime of youth (Hawthorne).

6. Also, Prime. the second of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, originally fixed for the first hour of the day (beginning at 6 _A.M.).

7. = prime number. (Cf. ↑prime number)

8. a) one of the equal parts into which a unit is divided, especially one of the sixty minutes in a degree. b) the mark indicating such a part, also used to distinguish one letter, quantity, etc., from another. B′ is read “B prime.”

9. Music. a) the same tone or note in another octave. b) the octave or octaves between two such tones or notes. c) the tonic or keynote.

10. the first defensive position in fencing.

11. = prime rate: (Cf. ↑prime rate) »

Banks hiked their best corporate interest rate to 20%, their ninth increase in the prime since the first of the year (Time).

╂[Old English prīm (noun definition 6); later, the first period (of the day) < Late Latin prīma the first service < Latin prīma (hōra) first hour (of the Roman day)]

–prime´ness, noun.

prime² «prym», verb, primed, prim|ing, noun.

–v.t.

1. to prepare by putting something in or on, such as gasoline into a carburetor or cylinder, to facilitate starting the engine.

2. to supply (a gun) with powder, especially to set off the main charge: »

Our two combatants had taken the ground, and were priming their pistols (Tobias Smollett).

3. to cover (a surface) with a first coat of paint, oil, or sizing, so that the finishing coat of paint will not soak in.

4. Figurative. to equip (a person) with information, words, arguments, or the like: »

to prime a person with a speech.

5. to pour water into (a pump) to start action.

–v.i.

1. to prime a firearm, charge, pump, or the like.

2. (of a boiler or steam engine) to let water pass to the cylinder in the form of spray along with the steam.

–n.

something that primes; priming.

╂[origin uncertain. Perhaps related to prime¹ as a “first operation” or to primage as a “loading.”]