English

Noun

primus ‎(plural primuses)

1. One of the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, who presides at the meetings of the bishops, and has certain privileges but no metropolitan authority.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Internat. Cyc to this entry?)

Latin

Etymology

Earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos, a superlative form of the obsolete preposition *pri/*prei, related to prae ‎(“before”) (see -issimus for the superlative). Compare prior ‎(“earlier, in front”), the corresponding comparative.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpriː.mus/, [ˈpriː.mʊs]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpri.mus/, [ˈpriː.mus]

Adjective

prīmus m ‎(feminine prīma, neuter prīmum); first/second declension

1. (ordinal) first

Inflection

First/second declension.

Derived terms

• prīmārius
• prīmō
• prīmōgenitus
• prīmum movēns
• prīmum mōbile
• prīmum nōn nocēre
• prīma māteria
• prīnceps

Descendants

See also

• prima materia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Primum Mobile on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• primum movens on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• primum non nocere on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• primus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• primus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• PRIMUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “primus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to have a superficial knowledge, a smattering of literature, of the sciences: primis (ut dicitur) or primoribus labris gustare or attingere litteras
    
  • to receive the first elements of a liberal education: primis litterarum elementis imbui
    
  • the actor who plays the leading part: actor primarum (secundarum, tertiarum) partium
    
  • to give the palm, the first place (for wisdom) to some one: primas (e.g. sapientiae) alicui deferre, tribuere, concedere
    
  • (ambiguous) at the first opportunity: primo quoque tempore
    
  • (ambiguous) at the beginning of spring: ineunte, primo vere
    
  • (ambiguous) we start by presupposing that..: positum est a nobis primum (c. Acc. c. Inf.)
    
  • (ambiguous) to be considered the foremost orator: primum or principem inter oratores locum obtinere
    
  • (ambiguous) to occupy the first, second position in the state: principem (primum), secundum locum dignitatis obtinere
    
  • (ambiguous) the vanguard: agmen primum
    
• primus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• primus in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• primus in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 488