prim

See also: prím, Prìm, and prím-

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹɪm/, [pʰɹ̠̊ɪm]
• 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

• prim and proper
• prissy

Translations

prudish

• Catalan: posturer m
• Dutch: preuts (nl)
• French: collet monté (fr), guindé (fr)

• German: prüde (de), ordentlich (de)
• Russian: чо́порный (ru) (čópornyj)
• Spanish: mojigato (es) m, santurrón, cartuchón
• Swedish: prudentlig (sv)

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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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.)

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Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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

1. thin, skinny

Derived terms

• aprimar
• primesa
• primor

Related terms

• primer

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.

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Ladin

Alternative forms

• prum

Etymology

From Latin prīmus.

Adjective

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

1. first

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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

• prīm in Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary

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Romanian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prim/

Adjective

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

1. prime, first

Declension

Declension of prim

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	prim		primă	primi	prime
	definite	primul		prima	primii	primele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	prim		prime	primi	prime
	definite	primului		primei	primilor	primelor

Synonyms

• întâi

Antonyms

• ultim

Related terms

• primar
• primăvară
• împrimă

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Volapük

Noun

prim (nominative plural prims)

1. beginning

Declension

declension of prim

	singular	plural
nominative	prim	prims
genitive	prima	primas
dative	prime	primes
accusative	primi	primis
vocative 1	o prim!	o prims!
predicative 2	primu	primus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only