prim

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹɪm/,

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪm

Etymology 1

From Provençal prim (“delicate, excellent”), from Old French prim, prin, from Latin primus (“first”). Doublet of prime.

Adjective

prim (comparative primmer, superlative primmest)

1. prudish, straight-laced
   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     God damn it, what does she want of me, this sad, beautiful bridgeplayer of the Fifth Floor, with her air of lost love and her prim carnality? After seven years of her, Brotherhood still had no idea. He'd be out touring the stations, he'd be in Bongabonga land. He'd not speak or write to her for months. Yet he'd hardly unpacked his toothbrush before she was in his arms, demanding him with her sad and hungry eyes.

2. formal; precise; affectedly neat or nice

   prim regularity; a prim person

   • 1708, [Jonathan Swift], “(please specify the page)”, in Baucis and Philemon; a Poem. , London: H. Hills, , published 1709, →OCLC:

     Philemon was in great surprise,⁠
     And hardly could believe his eyes,
     Amaz'd to see her look so prim;
     And she admir'd as much at him.

Derived terms

• prim and proper
• prissy

Translations

Verb

prim (third-person singular simple present prims, present participle primming, simple past and past participle primmed)

1. (dated) To make affectedly precise or proper.
2. (dated) To dress or act smartly.

Etymology 2

Unkown; see privet.

Noun

prim

1. (botany) privet

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin prīmus, from earlier prīsmos from *prīsemos from Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)
• Rhymes: -im

Adjective

prim (feminine prima, masculine plural prims, feminine plural primes)

1. thin, skinny

Derived terms

• aprimar
• primesa
• primor

Related terms

• primer

References

Further reading

• “prim” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “prim” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “prim” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Ladin

Alternative forms

• prum

Etymology

From Latin prīmus.

Adjective

prim m (feminine singular prima, masculine plural primi, feminine plural primes)

1. first

Old English

Etymology

From Latin prīma (“first; first hour”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /priːm/

Noun

prīm ?

1. (historical) Prime, the first hour or tide (3-hour period) after dawn
2. (Christianity) Prime, the divine office appointed for the hour in the liturgy

Synonyms

• (hour; tide): āntīd
• (service): prīmsang

Derived terms

• prīmsang

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “prīm”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin prīmus, from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prim/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

prim m or n (feminine singular primă, masculine plural primi, feminine and neuter plural prime)

1. prime, first

   Synonym: întâi

   Antonym: ultim

Declension

Related terms

• primar
• primăvară
• împrimă

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish پریم (prim), from French prime.

Noun

prim (definite accusative primi, plural primler)

1. prize
2. premium

References

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “prim”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN

Volapük

Noun

prim (nominative plural prims)

1. beginning

Declension