prim

See also: prím, Prìm, and prím-

English

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɪm

Etymology 1

Old French prim, prin, from Latin primus (“first”).

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
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)
Usage notes

Often used in the collocation “prim and proper”.

Derived terms
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

See privet.

Noun

prim

  1. (plants) privet

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for prim in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin prīmus[1], from earlier prīsmos from *prīsemos from Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Pronunciation

Adjective

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

  1. thin, skinny

References

Ladin

Alternative forms

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

Derived terms

References

Romanian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /prim/

Adjective

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

  1. prime, first

Declension

Synonyms

Antonyms

Volapük

Noun

prim (plural prims)

  1. beginning

Declension

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