| 释义 |
▪ I. prime, n.1|praɪm|
[OE. prîm, ad. L. prīma, from prīma hōra the first hour (in Roman reckoning): see prime a. Reinforced after the 11th c. by F. prime (:—L. prīma), from which the non-ecclesiastical senses were prob. mainly taken.]
I. In the ecclesiastical and connected senses.
1. One of the Day Hours of the Western Church: a Canonical Hour of the Divine Office, appointed for the first hour of the day (beginning originally at 6 a.m., but sometimes at sunrise); = prime-song (see 11); also, the hour or time of this office.
Prime is one of the horæ parvæ or ‘Little Hours’ (prime, tierce, sext, none, and compline) as distinguished from the ‘Greater Hours’ (lauds and vespers), and is said to be of later origin than the others, having been, according to Cassian (born c 350), added in his boyhood at the monastery of Bethlehem.
Etymologically and historically in Latin, the sense ‘first hour of the day’ is earlier than the ecclesiastical use; but, in English, as in French, prime was app. introduced as the name of the office, and came only secondarily to be applied to its time.
c961æthelwold Rule St. Benet xvi. (Schröer) 40 On þisum tidum we herian urne scyppend..on dæᵹred, on prim, on undern, on middæᵹ, on non, on æfen, on nihtsange [þat is compli]. c1000ælfric Colloq. in Wr.-Wülcker 101 We sungon..æfter þysum prim and seofon seolmas mid letanian and capitol mæssan. c1200Vices & Virt. 19 Ðar hwile ðe h(i)e singeð godes lofsang at prime. c1290St. Brendan 224 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 225, & of þe sauter seide þe uers, & siþþe also prime, & vnderne siþþe, & middai, & after⁓wardes non. c1386Chaucer Pard. T. 334 Thise Riotours thre..Longe erst er prime rong of any belle Were set hem in a Tauerne to drynke. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 138 As mattyns longe to the nyghte, & Laudes to the morow tyde, so Pryme longeth to the fyrst houre of the day after sonne rysynge. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 164 b, In..the..houres canonicall,..that is to saye, in matyns, pryme, tierce, sext, none, euensonge, & complyn. 1547in Cardwell Doc. Ann. (1839) I. 20 Item when any sermon or homily shall be had, the prime and hours shall be omitted. 1647Crashaw Poems, Hour of Prime 7 The early prime blushes to say She could not rise so soon as they Call'd Pilate up. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 254 So omit they not to sing the Prime, the third, the sixt, and other Canonical houres. 1706tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 16th C. II. v. 43 Cassander is much perplexed about the Office of Prime, how to reconcile it with the ancient Lauds, which he would not have been had he known that the Office had not been so ancient. 1843[see laud n.1 2]. 1854Milman Lat. Chr. iii. vi. (1864) II. 89 From prime to noon..was devoted to labour. 1877J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 129 Prime succeeded Lauds at an interval.
2. Hence, in general use, The first hour of the day, beginning either at six o'clock throughout the year, or at the varying time of sunrise; also sometimes used for the period between the first hour and tierce, the end of which period (about nine o'clock) is believed to have been high prime, or prime large.
(See Skeat's notes to P. Pl. p. 162, also Astrolabe p. lxi. Cf. the expressions ad tertiam plenam, etc. in Benedictine Rule xlviii.)
c1290St. Michael 461 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 313 And for þe sonne is feor a-boue riȝt at-fore þe prime, bi-neoþen hire þe Mone is euene. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 105 At heiȝ prime perkyn lette þe plouȝ stonde. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 943 (992) Al so syker as þow lyst here by me, And god toforn I wole be þere at pryme. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxx. 301 From pryme of the day in to noon. c1400Song Roland 776 Be that it was prym, the prese wex ille. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy (E.E.T.S.) 2968 My lady it is tyme Þat we arise, for sone it wil be pryme: Ȝe may se wel þe day begynneth springe. c1430― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 105 Then to Westmynster-Gate I presently went, When the sonn was at hyghe pryme. 1493Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 7 An husbonde man wente in to his gardyn or vyneyerde at pryme. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 1054 Vnto huntynge..was his resorte Euery day in the morowe longe afore pryme. 1656Blount Glossogr., Prime..the first hour of the day, in Summer at four aclock, in Winter at eight. 1746–7Hervey Refl. Fl.-Gard. Wks. 1767 I. 114 How charming to rove abroad, at this sweet Hour of Prime! 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. i, Early and late, at evening and at prime. 1814Cary Dante's Inf. i. 35 The hour was morning's prime, and on his way Aloft the sun ascended. 1870Bryant Iliad I. i. 30 At early prime She sat before thee and embraced thy knees.
†3. The general meeting of a guild; also, the hour of its assembling. Obs.
1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 79 (St. John Bapt., Bps. Lynn) Also, qwat broþere or sistere þat cometȝ aftere prime be smeten, he shal pay j.d. to þe lytȝ; and prime shall be smet[en] ij. howres aftere noon. Ibid. 94 (St. Edmund) And if he come after prime be thriis smeten, he schal paie j.d. 1431Ibid. 275 (St. Clement, Camb.) Who-so comyth aftir prime be smette, he schal payen ij. denar. And y⊇ oure prime is clepyd the secounde oure aftyr noone. 1812tr. Rules & Ordin. Gild of Holy Trin. Kings Lynn in Richards Hist. Lynn I. 456–7, 11. If any one is called and cited at a prime (or general meeting) and does not come before the issue of the first consult, he is to pay 1d. by order of the dean... 14. If any servant of the brethren comes at the drinking, or the prime, he is to lay down the cap and cloak [etc.].
II. The beginning of a period or cycle.
4. The Golden Number: see golden 6. arch.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 341 Þe day is for to witen, Idus þat is of May left I to write þis ryme, D. letter & Friday bi ix þat ȝere ȝede prime. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 135 Whanne prime gooþ by oon, þanne falleþ the prime þe þre and twenty day of Ianyuer, and þe next ȝere after it schal falle..enleuene dayes raþer. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 24 The aureat noumbre in kalenders set for prime. 1546Langley Pol. Verg. De Invent. ii. iv. 42 The Prime, whereby we fynde the coniunction of the mone and al moueable feastes as Lent, Easter..was inuented by the greate Clarcke S. Barnarde. 1574Bourne Regiment for Sea ii. (1577) 9 b, The cause..it is called the Prime, was for that it was the first order that the Moones course was known by. 1604Bk. Com. Prayer, To find Easter for ever, When ye haue found the Sunday letter..guide your eye downe⁓ward from the same, till ye come right ouer against the Prime. 1752Ibid., Table to find Easter-Day, To find the Golden Number, or Prime, add one to the Year of our Lord, and then divide by 19; the remainder, if any, is the Golden Number.
¶b. Confusedly explained as the lunar cycle of 19 years. Obs.
1574Bourne Regiment for Sea ii. (1577) 10 The Prime or Golden Number, is the tyme of 19 yeares, in the which tyme the Moone maketh all her chaunges or coniunctions with the Sunne. 1594J. Davis Seaman's Secr. (1607) 6 The Prime is the space of 19 yeres, in which time the Moone performeth al the varieties of her motion with the Sunne. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 9.
†c. transf. in reference to a cycle of weather. Obs. rare.
1625Bacon Ess., Vicissitude of Things (Arb.) 571 They say, it is obserued, in the Low Countries..that Euery Fiue and Thirtie years, The same Kinde and Sute of Years and Weathers, comes about againe: As Great Frosts, Great Wet, Great Droughts, Warme Winters, Summers with little Heat, and the like: And they call it the Prime.
†5. The beginning or first appearance of the new moon. Obs.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 133 Þe ȝere of þe mone is from prime in a monþe of þe ȝere to þe firste prime in þe same monþe anoþer ȝere. 1387[see 4]. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6569 Þat day was of þe mone pryme. 1562Leigh Armorie 102 Y⊇ moone in her prime, which is y⊇ thyrd day after the coniunction, or, as we commonly cal it, the newe moone. 1587L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Oxen (1627) 49 Take no calfe that is calued within the prime, which is counted the fiue dayes after the change. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 162 When the Moon is changed untill her prime and appearance, these beasts..take boughs,..and then look upon the Moon. 1635Quarles Embl. iii. i. (1718) 129 Falls have their risings, wainings have their primes. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Prime of the Moon, signifies the New Moon, at her first Appearing, or about Three Days after the Change, at which time she is said to be primed.
6. fig. The beginning or first age of anything.
1430–40Lydg. Bochas i. i. (MS. Bodl. 263) lf. 11/1 It was off chaunge to hem a newe pryme For to beholde a thing disnaturalle. c1440J. Capgrave St. Kath. iv. 1698 The maister princypal..Of hir doctryne was ful Ioyeful and gladde; For god had poynted in hym a newe pryme. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. iv. §6 Let them cast backe their eies..and marke what was done in the prime of the World. 1631Chapman Cæsar & Pompey iv. Plays 1873 III. 176 Betwixt the ends of those things and their primes. 1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 124 The Daffodil, the Primrose, with the other primes and dawnings of the Spring. 1865Mozley Mirac. viii. 303 note, In the first conversion of the Franks, or in the prime of that church.
b. The beginning or first age of the world.
1616J. Taylor (Water P.) Seiges Jerus. i, Who in the Prime, when all things first began, Made all for Man, and for him⁓selfe made Man. 1814Wordsw. Wh. Doe vii. 360 Thou, thou art not a Child of Time, But Daughter of the Eternal Prime. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lvi, Dragons of the prime, That tare each other in their slime.
7. The first season of the year (when this began at the vernal equinox); spring. (So OF. prime.)
1541St. Papers Hen. VIII, VIII. 641 This prime the French King entendith to work great maisteries against th' Empereur in sundry places. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 615 A thousand Winters, and a thousand Primes. c1600Shakes. Sonn. xcvii, The teeming Autumne big with ritch increase, Bearing the wanton burthen of the prime. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 770 The fields are florid with unfading prime. 1885Burton Arab. Nts. (1887) III. 82 Winter had gone..and Prime had come to it with his roses and orange blossoms.
8. The ‘springtime’ of human life; the time of early manhood or womanhood, from about 21 to 28 years of age. (Sometimes distinguished from sense 9 as the prime of youth.) Now rare.
1592Kyd Sp. Trag. i. i. 8 My discent..inferiour far To gratious fortunes of my tender youth: For there in prime and pride of all my yeeres..In secret I possest a worthy dame. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 248 And will she yet abase her eyes on me, That cropt the Golden prime of this sweet Prince? 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 158 But when he was out of his childhood, and grown to be a lusty youth,..and in the prime of his youth. 1632Lithgow Trav. iii. 106 Whereof in the prime of my adolescency..I had the full proofe. 1645Milton Sonn. ix, Lady that in the prime of earliest youth, Wisely hath shun'd the broad way and the green. 1712Steele Spect. No. 282 ⁋3 They had by this time passed their Prime, and got on the wrong side of Thirty. 1726Swift Gulliver i. ii, He was then past his prime, being twenty-eight years and three quarters old. 1770Junius Lett. xxxvi. (1820) 171 The vices operate like age..and in the prime of youth leave the character broken and exhausted. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) III. xvi. 160 She followed to the grave..her only son, the heir and hope of the Monarchy, just entering on his prime. 1877Black Green Past. xxii, There was he, in the prime of youthful manhood.
III. That which is first in quality or character.
9. Of human life: The period or state of greatest perfection or vigour, before strength begins to decay. (Sometimes distinguished from sense 8 as prime of age, or prime of middle age.)
1615Crooke Body of Man 385 In yonger men it is faster, in the prime of our age more rare and hollow. 1697Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1703) 180 When he is past his prime, his vigour is perpetually wearing off. c1718Prior Ladle 80 The honest farmer and his wife, To years declin'd from prime of life. 1728Young Love Fame v. 498 Nought treads so silent as the foot of time; Hence we mistake our autumn for our prime. 1802Wordsw. Sailor's Mother, A Woman on the road I met, Not old, though something past her prime. 1838Lytton Calderon i, The king was yet in the prime of middle age. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xxxix, He was still in the prime of life, not more than four-and-forty. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 342 Those years are the prime of physical as well as of intellectual vigour. 1887Jessopp Arcady ii. 30 When a man has arrived at the prime of life..he is apt to become sensitive on the subject of his age.
b. Of things, material or immaterial: The best or most flourishing stage or state; the state of full perfection.
prime of grease: cf. pride of grease, pride n.1 9, quot. 1688.
c1536in Furniv. Ballads fr. MSS. (1872) I. 410 Plesantly I am plyghte in the prime of my fortune! c1590Greene Fr. Bacon vi. 34 As Greece affoorded in her chiefest prime. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 105 They are onely for the owners pastime in the prime of sommer. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 11 It may be said, that the world was then in his prime and best dayes. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 202 April... Flowers in Prime or yet lasting, Anemonies,..Cyclamen, Bell-flower, Dens Caninus. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 188/1 Prime of his Grease [is] a term used to a Boar when he is full Fat. 1794Blake Songs Exper., Little Girl Lost iii, Where the summer's prime Never fades away. 1800M. Edgeworth Will i. (1832) 91 The second week in November is the time when the rabbits are usually killed, as the skins are then in full prime. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 259 Those trees which have been cut before they had reached their prime. 1830Tennyson Recoll. Arab. Nts. ii, A goodly time, For it was in the golden prime Of good Haroun Alraschid. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps vi. §16. 178 A building cannot be considered as in its prime until four or five centuries have passed over it.
10. The choicest, principal, or chief member or members of a company or number of persons or things. (The later examples may be absolute uses of prime a.)
1579Twyne Phisicke agst. Fort. ii. iv. 166 The father of Phisitions, and the primes of Keruers and painters, namely, Hippocrates, and Phidias and Apelles. 1599B. R. in Wordsw. Eccl. Biog. (1818) II. 57 The red rose..of all hearbes and flowers the prime and soveraigne. 1608Middleton Mad World my Masters i. i. 96 A fellow whose only glory is to be prime of the company. 1671Milton P.R. i. 413 Among the Prime in Splendour. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 432 Prime of the flock, and choicest of the stall. 1804Wordsw. Afflict. Margaret iii, He was among the prime in worth. 1844Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 19 Hard it is, 'mid gifts so sweet Choosing out the prime.
b. The best, choicest, most attractive or desirable part of anything.
1635R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. (ed. 2) 343 He now gives up the flower and prime of all his abilities to the highest Majesty. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vi. i, [He] always chused to have the prime of everything. 1873E. Smith Foods 63 The ‘prime’ of three shoulders and other joints.
IV.
11. attrib. and Comb.: † prime day: see quots.; prime-song Hist. [repr. OE. primsang], the office or service of prime (= sense 1).
1574W. Bourne Regiment for Sea iii. (1577) 12 b, The Sea men do imagin a *prime day, which is the halfe quarter of the Moone. 1594Blundevil Exerc. vii. l. (1636) 739 When the Moone is three daies and 18 houres, which is the halfe quarter of the Moone, the Sea-men doe call that time the Prime day, because the Moone is then 4 points to the Eastward of the Sunne.
c961æthelwold Rule St. Benet xvi. (Schröer) 40 Ðæt seofonfealde ᵹetæl..dæᵹredsang, *primsang, undernsang, middæᵹsang [etc.]. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) I. vii. 272. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. ii. 126 At the end of prime-song, all the clergy went in procession from the choir to the chapter⁓house.
▪ II. prime, n.2|praɪm|
[Absolute use of prime a., or of its Lat., Fr., or other equivalent. (Senses 10 and 11 may be different words.)]
I.
1. a. Arith. A prime number: see prime a. 7.
1594Blundevil Exerc. i. vii. (1636) 25 But such [numbers] as cannot bee divided but that there will remaine some odde unite, those are called Primes. 1709–29V. Mandey Syst. Math., Arith. 22 Numbers are Primes between them⁓selves, all which Unity only measures, as 5, 7, 9: also 3, 11, 13. 1806Hutton Course Math. I. 54 If a number cannot be divided by some quantity less than the square root of the same, that number is a prime, or cannot be divided by any number whatever. 1875Todhunter Algebra (ed. 7) lii. §705 Thus p′ is divisible by p, and is therefore not a prime.
b. Linguistics. A simple, indivisible linguistic unit.
1959F. W. Householder in Word XV. 231 (title) On linguistic primes. 1961― in Saporta & Bastian Psycholinguistics 19/1 We must recognize at least two kinds of linguistic units: (1) ultimate units, or primes, out of which other more complex units may be constructed. 1963J. Lyons Structural Semantics ii. 11 The lexeme is a formal unit of grammatical analysis, established distributionally. It may or may not be a ‘prime’,..though it frequently is for Greek. 1964E. Bach Introd. Transformational Gram. v. 58 Each level of a linguistic theory comprises..a set of primes (i.e., atoms or indivisible elements). 1965N. Chomsky Aspects of Theory of Syntax 222 Each level L is a system based on a set of primes (minimal elements—i.e. an alphabet). 1975― Logical Struct. Linguistic Theory iii. 105 If a and b are (not necessarily distinct) primes of L, we can form a{ovparen}b and b{ovparen}a as new elements of L.
2. a. A subdivision of any standard measure or dimension, which is itself subdivided in the same ratio into seconds, and so on; e.g. 1/60 of a degree, a minute (1/60 of which is in its turn a second); the twelfth part of a foot, an inch; or, with some, 1/12 of an inch; in Scottish Troy weight for gold and silver, 1/24 of a grain, itself consisting of 24 seconds, etc. [So obs. F. prime.]
Primes, seconds, etc., were formerly used instead of decimals.
1604in Moryson Itinerary i. (1617) 282 (Table of Scottish Weights of Coins) [1 denier] 24 Graines; [1 grain] 24 Primes; [1 prime] 24 Seconds [etc.]. Ibid., xx. s. [sterling] = 06 pennyweights, 10 graines, 16 mites, 18 droits, 10 periots, English Weight; 07 deniers, 21 graines, 07 primes, 01 seconds, 09 thirds, 19 fourths, Scottish Weight. 1641in R. W. Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl. (1876) I. Introd. 32 The pund Troy English consisting of 12 oz..is equall to 12 oz 5 drs 9 gr 18 pr Scots or 169,002 primes Scots. 1695W. Lowndes Amendm. Silv. Coin 66 And one other Piece which may be called the Prime, which shall be equal to..a present standard peny. 1703T. N. City & C. Purchaser 123 Inches by Inches, produce Primes, or (12th) Parts (of an Inch); Inches by (12th) Parts, produce Seconds, or 12th Parts of the 12th Part of an Inch. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Degree, Thus, a Degree, as being the integer or unite, is denoted by °, a first minute or prime by 1, a second by 2 or {pp}, a third by 3 or {ppp}, etc. Accordingly 3 Degrees, 25 minutes, 16 thirds, are written 3°. 25′. 0{pp}. 16{ppp}. 18..B. Greenleaf (Webster 1890), 12 seconds ({pp}) make 1 inch or prime. 12 inches or primes (′) make one foot.
b. In decimal fractions: see quots. Now Obs. or rare.
1608R. Norton tr. Stevin's Disme C ij, Each tenth part of the vnity of the Comencement, wee call the Prime, whose signe is thus (1)..3(1) 7(2) 5(3) 9(4) [= 0·3759], that is to say 3 Primes, 7 Seconds, 5 Thirds, 9 Fourths..of valeu. 1610W. Folkingham Art of Survey ii. iv. 52 Deuide each foote of the Rule..into decimals or Tenths, and each Tenth or Prime of the Rule into Seconds. 1695E. Hatton Merch. Mag. 83 That place in a Decimal Fraction next the prick is called Primes, being so many Tenth parts. 1806Hutton Course Math. I. 66 The 1st place of decimals, counted from the left-hand towards the right, is called the place of primes, or 10ths; the 2d is the place of seconds, or 100ths.
c. Surveying. A linear measure of 1/10 or ·1 of a pole or perch.
1658Phillips, Prime, is in Surveying, an exact part containing 19 inches and four fift parts of an inch.
d. Printing. The symbol ′ or 1, written above and to the right of a letter or figure, to denote primes, or merely to distinguish it from another not so marked. [So F. prime in Algebra.]
1875Knight Dict. Mech., Prime, (Printing) a mark over a reference letter (a′, b{pp}, etc.) to distinguish it from letters (a, b, etc.) not so marked. [Usually read ‘a dash’, etc.] 1917D. W. Payne Founder's Man. p. xi, The prime mark ′ above a number means minutes or linear feet. 1964Amer. Jrnl. Physics XXXII. 264/2 The prime (′) here indicates ordinary differentiation of a function of a single variable. 1973A. H. Sommerstein Sound Pattern Anc. Greek iii. 91 A Roman numeral followed by a prime indicates that the convention in question is intended to replace the Chomsky-Halle convention of the same number. 1976Physics Bull. May 191/2 We would like to draw the attention of readers to the equation (B0)i = B0-D′M (our prime) appearing in the last column.
3. Chem. A single atom as a unit in combination; a combining equivalent.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 627 The nitre contains five primes of oxygen, of which three, combining with the three of charcoal, will furnish three of carbonic oxide gas, while the remaining two will convert the one prime of sulphur into sulphurous acid gas. The single prime of nitrogen is, there⁓fore, in this view, disengaged alone.
4. Music.
a. Short for prime tone (prime a. 10): The fundamental note or generator, as distinguished from the harmonics or partial tones.
b. The ‘interval’ of a unison; superfluous prime, a chromatic semitone.
c. ‘The lowest note of any two notes forming an interval’ (Stainer & Barrett).
1788Cavallo in Phil. Trans. LXXVIII. 239 If a string stretched between two fixed points..be struck, it will produce a sound called the prime, first or key-note. 1866Engel Nat. Mus. ii. 25 It must..be remembered that a semitone is called small when it consists of a superfluous prime, as C—C{sharp}, A♭—A♮; and that it is called large when it consists of a minor second, as C—D♭, F{sharp}—G. 1881Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 135 The fundamental or prime partial tone, or simply the prime. 1884Sir G. A. Macfarren in Encycl. Brit. XVII. 93/2 Thus, E / C , the fourth and fifth harmonic, produce C, the prime or generator, at the interval of two octaves under the lower of those two notes.
5. Fencing.
†a. The lower half of a sword. Obs.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 159/2 The sword is diuided into two parts, namely into the Prime and the Secunde. The Prime is measured from the hilt to the Midle of the Rapier. 1692Sir W. Hope Fencing-Master (ed. 2) 3 The Strong, Fort, or Prime of the Blade is from the Shell to the middle of the Blade.
b. (Also preem.) A position in fencing: the first of the eight parries or guards in sword-play, used to protect the head; also, a thrust in such a position. [F. prime.]
1710Palmer Proverbs 203 Which they wou'd find of more satisfaction and use in the conduct of life, than tierce and cart, prime and second, dancing and dress. 1730Gentl. Tutor for Small Sword 8 Some teach upon a Preem with the Edge upwards. Ibid. 13 The Third [Parry] is, turning your Hand in Preem, You may parry and thrust him at the same time. 1889Badminton Libr., Fencing ii. 44 Prime, the hand in pronation opposite the left shoulder; the arm bent, the elbow lowered somewhat, the point low and a little outside the lower line.
6. Colloq. abbrev. of prime minister (sense 3). Cf. prime n.1 10.
1916A. Huxley Let. May (1969) 99 The Prime received suddenly one morning a letter..‘Dear Mr. A[squith]’. 1924Galsworthy White Monkey i. ii. 14 Didn't he think that the cubic called ‘Still Life’—of the Government, too frightfully funny—especially the ‘old bean’ representing the Prime?
7. Cycling. An especially difficult stage in a long-distance cycle race.
1959Observer 31 May 32/4 Weatherlaw was the first ‘prime’—a specially marked stretch of hilly road which gives the first three men to the summit a bonus of money and time. 1961Times 7 June 5/6 Pewter tankards being offered as prizes at the town primes along the route. 1975Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 235/1 On mountainous stretches certain summits are designated as primes.
8. Short for prime rate.
1973Business Week 10 Feb. 19 The all-out struggle over the prime. 1977Offshore Engineer July 19/3 Citibank's current prime is 63/4%. 1978Daily Tel. 25 Nov. 19/2 At 11·5 p.c., the prime now stands at its highest level since October 1974.
II. Related to prima vista, primero.
†9. Cards. A hand in primero consisting of a card from each of the four suits. Also, an old game of cards, by some identified with primero. Obs.
1598Florio, Prima,..also a game at cardes called Prime, Primero, or Primauista. 1599Minsheu Span. Dial. 26 M. I was a small prime. L. I am flush... O. I made fiue and fiftie, with which I win his prime [mato su primera]. 1606Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 45 He that wil not pluck a card, is not worthy of a prime, but..he that can be flush, may better carrie the rest. a1612Harington Epigr. ii. xcix. Marcus at Primero, For either Faustus prime is with three knaves, Or Marcus never can encounter right. 1616B. Jonson Epigr. cxii. 22 There's no vexation, that can make thee prime. 1798Sporting Mag. XII. 142 The prime is four cards of different suits. 1816Singer Hist. Cards 245 He who holds the prime (primero), that is, a sequence of the best cards, and a good trump, is sure to be successful over his adversary, and hence the game has its denomination. Ibid. 246 The varieties which daily occur at Primero, as the greater and lesser flush, the great and little Prime.
III. Of uncertain origin and position.
10. Basket-making. A kind of stout conical bodkin.
1894Parker's Gloss. Her. 46 The four implements, viz. prime, iron, cutting-knife, and out-sticker, used in basket-making are represented on the insignia of the Basket-makers' Company.
11. The footstep of a deer; cf. prick n. 1 c.
1847–78in Halliwell.
▪ III. prime, n.3
[f. prime v.1]
†1. The priming of a gun. In quot. 1655, perhaps the pan for the priming. Obs.
1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §44 A perfect Pistol..with Prime, Powder and Fire-lock. 1706Phillips, Prime of a Gun, the Powder that is put in the Pan, or Touch-hole. 1738Wesley Wks. (1830) I. 164 He went and got fresh prime, beat the flint with his key and..shot himself through the head. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), The..priming-iron..serves to clear the inside of the touch hole, and render it fit to receive the prime. 1823W. Faux Mem. Days in Amer. 48 The colonel..then attempted to shoot himself, but had no prime.
attrib.1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Priming, That so they may put in the prime-powder, or touch-powder, to fire off the piece.
†2. A first coat of paint; priming. Obs.
1658W. Sanderson Graphice 58 Lay your ground or Prime therein of Flesh-Colour. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxxiv. 49 The Prime is made thus. 1735Dict. Polygraph. s.v. Face, You ought to cover rather too much than too little of your ground with this prime.
▪ IV. prime, a. (adv.)|praɪm|
[= F. prime adj. (now only in certain phrases), ad. L. prīm-us first.]
A. adj.
1. First in order of time or occurrence; early, young, youthful; primitive, primary.
1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 34 And myȝte nat passe þe poynte of her prime age. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 4587 In the houre of pryme dayes thyne hoege luf shewed thow me. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon viii. 191 Yonge men of pryme berde. 1553Brende Q. Curtius R vj, He was in the prime floure of his youth. 1587Golding De Mornay xxvi. (1617) 441 It befell in the prime time of the world. 1639Laud Wks. (1849) II. 93 If the speech be of the prime Christian Church. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 273 If the prime Swarm be broken, the second will both cast and swarm the sooner. 1850S. Dobell Roman vii, The men of whom I speak Lived by the prime tradition.
2. Of persons: First in rank, dignity, influence, authority, or importance; highest in degree; principal, chief, foremost.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 72 Prospero, the prime Duke, being so reputed In dignity. 1613― Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 162 Haue I not made you The prime man of the State? 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 206 These are chosen..out of the Nobilitie and primest Magistrates, both of the Provinces and Citizens. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 301 Rich. Smith..had been prime Mourner at his Brother's Funeral. 1707E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. iii. xi. (ed. 22) 357 [The Lord Mayor] upon the Death of the King, is said to be prime Person of England. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. III. liii. 155 The nobility and prime gentry of the nation. 1862Goulburn Pers. Relig. iii. ix. (1873) 232 He was God's prime agent in the spread of the Gospel.
3. a. First in importance, excellence, or value; principal, chief, main; of primary importance.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 425 My prime request (Which I do last pronounce) is..If you be Mayd, or no? 1613― Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 229 To come, with her, (Katherine our Queene) before the primest Creature That's Parragon'd o' th' World. 1620Venner Via Recta iv. 80 It might..be numbred among the fishes of primest note. 1717Prior Alma ii. 364 That prime ill, a talking wife. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 110 Waterford and Wexford..have constantly enjoyed a prime Place in my Mind. 1814Wordsw. Sonn., ‘From the dark chambers of dejection freed’, A soaring spirit is their prime delight. 1874H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. vi. i. 359 The prime intention of each Evangelist is to establish the same sublime position.
b. Broadcasting. Pertaining to or associated with the largest audience of the day. See also prime-time 3.
1959Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. p. xxxi/5 John Fischer, the editor of Harpers,..asks for an autonomous authority empowered to produce programmes of exceptional merit, financed by a levy on the income of the broadcasters, who will also be under an obligation to transmit these programmes in the cherished prime-viewing hours. 1961Webster s.v., Prime television time. 1976Broadcast Dec. 15/3 We have to go through the routine again slap in the middle of prime listening time on a Saturday morning. 1977Times 7 Dec. 19/1 It is seldom that anyone gets handed such a quantity of prime television time to do what he likes with.
4. a. ‘First-class’, ‘first-rate’; of the best quality; now used esp. of cattle and provisions.
prime fish, the more valuable kinds of fish caught for food: opposed to offal sense 3, q.v. prime rib, best rib of beef, i.e. one of the first two ribs in the forequarter; also attrib.
1628Digby Voy. Medit. (Camden) 37 Shee was a shippe of a 100 tonnes, a prime sayler. 1663Cowley Disc. Govt. Cromwell Verses & Ess. (1669) 75 This Son of fortune, Cromwell (who was himself one of the primest of her Jests). 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 1 The Ships were all in prime Order, all lately rebuilt. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1032 Removing the lambs from the ewes..in order to complete them on young clover or other sorts of ‘prime keep’. 1833H. Martineau T. Tyne ii. 28 Coal enough—and no little of a prime quality,—was destroyed at the pit-mouth. 1884Brit. Alm. & Comp. 29 Soles, turbots, and brills, which are technically termed ‘prime’ fish. 1892E. Reeves Homeward Bound 285 The butcher won't cut prime joints off a bullock. 1960E. David French Provincial Cooking 335 To satisfy customers, butchers bone, trim and tie up secondary cuts of meat..and sell them at a small amount less than, say, sirloin or prime ribs. 1973D. Barnes See the Woman (1974) ii. 195 I'll buy us a prime-rib dinner. 1973Listener 19 Apr. 501/1 A landscape of luscious rib roasts, lamb chops, shell steaks, T-bone steaks, sirloin steaks, fillet mignon, prime ribs, veal piccata and so on. 1978Chicago Tribune Mag. 2 Oct. 8/2 The 25-cent hot beef special is now a $2.75 prime rib sandwich, served with salad and potato.
b. spec. used of land, the position of real estate, etc.
1634Relat. Ld. Baltimore's Plantation (1865) 12 As good, (if not much better) than the primest parcell of English ground. 1850Househ. Words 3 Aug. 433/1 Sir Roger Rockville..was the last of a very long line... His first known ancestor came over with William, and must have been a man of some mark,..for he obtained what the Americans would call a prime location. 1961J. D. Adams in Webster s.v., Prime farming land. 1976Western Mail (Cardiff) 27 Nov. 17/2 (Advt.), A charming detached Freehold four-bedroom residence built in 1935,..in a prime residential area. 1977Grimsby Even. Tel. 24 May 4/9 (Advt.), A thriving newsagents, tobacconist, sweets and general business situated in a prime position in a growing village close to Grimsby. 1978Church Times 1 Sept. 4/1 It may still occupy a prime site on a busy thoroughfare.
5. Sexually excited, ruttish.
1604Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 403 Were they as prime as Goates, as hot as Monkeyes, As salt as Wolues in pride.
6. First in order of existence or development; primary, original, fundamental; from which others are derived, or on which they depend.
prime feathers, primary feathers: see primary a. 5.
1639Laud Wks. (1849) II. 152 Excommunication on their part was not the prime cause of this division. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden lix, The prime root shooteth down⁓wards like a Cinquefoile. 1742Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 17 The prime Cause of our British Malady the Scurvy. 1769E. Bancroft Guiana 156 The prime middle feathers on the tail are red. 1871Blackie Four Phases i. 51 According to the prime postulate not of the philosophy of Socrates only, but of Plato and Aristotle also. 1878Abney Photogr. (1881) 8 What the prime form of these undulations may be we cannot tell.
7. Arith.
a. Of a number: Having no integral factors except itself and unity. So prime divisor, prime factor, prime quotient, etc.
b. Of two or more numbers in relation to each other: Having no common measure except unity.
1570Billingsley Euclid vii. def. xii. 186 A prime (or first) number is that, which onely vnitie doth measure. 1660Barrow Euclid vii. xxiii. (1714) 156 Numbers prime the one to the other,..are the least of all numbers that have the same proportion with them. 1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 5 Six..though it may be made by Addition of Five and One, yet shall it not be Prime. 1722Horsley in Phil. Trans. LXII. 327 Two or more numbers, which have no common integral devisor, besides unity, are said to be Prime with respect to one another. 1795Hutton Math. Dict. II. 276 Prime Numbers are..otherwise called Simple, or Incomposite numbers. Ibid. 279 The whole number, whether it be Prime or composite. 1829Nat. Philos. I. Mechanics ii. vii. 30 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) Making the number of teeth and the number of leaves prime to each other, that is, such that no integer divides both exactly. 1875Todhunter Algebra (ed. 7) lii. §703 If a and b be each of them prime to c, then ab is prime to c. Ibid. §708 A number can be resolved into prime factors in only one way. Ibid. §713 If n be a prime number, and N prime to n, then Nn-1 - 1 is a multiple of n. (Fermat's Theorem.) Ibid. §717 If n be a prime number, 1 + {vb}n - 1 is divisible by n. (Wilson's Theorem.)
8. First in numerical order, as in prime meridian, the first meridian (of any system of reckoning).
1878Huxley Physiogr. xix. 330 The meridian from which the reckoning begins is called the prime meridian.
9. Astronautics. Originally designated to take part or be used in a space mission, esp. in prime crew, the original person or persons selected to man a spacecraft.
1965Life 3 Dec. 48 Pete Conrad, who spent a week in space, is the prime crew. 1970N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iii. 63 At 4:30 a.m. the transfer vans arrived—one prime, one backup. 1970R. Turnill Language of Space 13 Every manned space flight, American or Russian, has a back-up crew, to replace the prime crew in the event of illness or death.
10. Special collocations and phrases:
a. prime cost, the direct cost of something, not including discounts, expenses involved, etc.; prime dun, an artificial fly in angling: cf. dun n.1 3; prime entry, an entry of two thirds of a ship's cargo liable to duty, made before discharge (on which an estimate of the duty is paid): cf. post entry 2 a (Bithell Counting-ho. Dict. 1882); prime figure: see quot.; prime function (Eccl.): see quot.; prime (interest, lending) rate, the lowest rate of interest offered on bank loans at a given time and place; † prime number, the Golden Number = prime n.1 4; see also 7; prime tint: see quot.; prime tone (Music), the fundamental note of a compound tone. Also prime conductor, cost, mover, serjeant, vizier, warden: see the ns.
1718C. Hitchin Receivers & Thief-Takers 11 For instance, suppose you steal Goods to the value of twenty Pounds *prime Cost. 1732R. Johnson Let. 6 Oct. in Cal. State Papers, Amer. & W. Indies (1939) 231, I have examined what dutys are payd in this Province on English European ships or goods, and there is only 2½ p.c. our currency upon the prime cost of goods from Europe in general. 1775in 15th Rep. R. Comm. Hist. Manuscripts App. vi. 297 in Parl. Papers 1897 (C. 8551) LI. 1 Vessels have come from Hispaniola, and sold gunpowder to the Provincials at prime cost. 1890A. Marshall Princ. Econ. I. vi. vi. 519 This is the Prime cost which a manufacturer has commonly in view when, trade being slack, he is calculating the lowest price at which it would be worth his while to accept an order. 1925S. E. Thomas Elem. Econ. xiii. 168 The excess is ‘dumped’ on foreign markets at a price just sufficient to cover prime cost, or even below prime cost. 1938Bowers & Rowntree Econ. for Engineers (ed. 2) xiii. 258 Prime costs, according to accounting procedure, are direct labor and materials expenses alone... Many economists, however, define prime costs as all avoidable costs, so that a plant shutdown would eliminate all prime costs. 1944A. Cairncross Introd. Econ. xvi. 199 Normally, some surplus over prime or variable costs will be earned. 1953Stonier & Hague Textbk. Econ. Theory v. 110 ‘Variable’, ‘prime’ and ‘direct’ costs represent all those costs which can be altered in the short run as output alters. 1962S. Strand Marketing Dict. 573 Prime cost, the cost of a product involving labor and all the parts that go into making it. 1978J. Kellock Elements of Accounting x. 175 The value of rejected materials or by-products will be credited to the cost of raw materials purchased or deleted from the prime cost.
1799G. Smith Laboratory II. 309 *Prime-dun. Wings, of the feather got from the quill of a starling's wing.
1696Phillips (ed. 5), *Prime Figure. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Prime Figure, is that which cannot be divided into any other Figures more simple than it self; as a Triangle in Planes, the Pyramid in Solids: For all Planes are made of the First, all Bodies or Solids compounded of the Second.
1866Direct. Angl. (ed. 3) 258 *Prime Function. From the Credo inclusive to the end of the Office.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 9 In what year you would know what is the *Prime Number, add 1 to the date thereof, and then divide it by 19, and that which remaineth upon the Division..is the Number required.
1958Wall St. Jrnl. 29 Dec. 8/3 The ‘*prime’ rate was thus brought back to within a half percentage point of the 4½% rate which was in effect from August, 1957... The ‘prime’ rate is the interest banks charge their biggest borrowers with the best credit status. 1970Daily Tel. 4 Mar. 19 Several reductions in ‘prime lending rate’ by small American banks, are not likely to lead to cuts by major American banks for at least a fortnight. 1972Bankers Mag. (Boston, Mass.) Winter 45/1 Many bankers have turned critical on the concept of a prime rate. 1973N.Y. Law Jrnl. 26 July 3/3 Better-quality construction loans with a takeout were being made at the beginning of the year at a spread of about three points over the prime rate. 1978S. Brill Teamsters vi. 252 Glick's Las Vegas loans were given at a time when he was far from being a candidate for a prime rate.
1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty xii. 96 The first we shall call *prime tints, by which is meant any colour or colours on the surfaces of objects.
1881Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics vii. 130 The *prime tone is always the sound which is called by the name which the note bears, as C, B, A, or any other note. This tone is called the prime tone because..it is always much louder than any of the constituent parts of the sound.
b. prime vertical: (a) in full prime vertical circle, a great circle of the heavens passing through the east and west points of the horizon, and through the zenith, where it cuts the meridian at right angles; (b) short for prime vertical dial, a dial the plane of which lies in that of the prime vertical circle, a north and south dial.
prime vertical transit instrument, a transit instrument the telescope of which revolves in the plane of the prime vertical, for observing the transit of stars over this circle.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xiv. 21 If a Plane shall decline from the Prime Vertical, and incline to the Horizon. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Prime Verticals, or Direct Erect North or South Dyals, are those whose Planes lie parallel to the Prime Vertical Circle. 1761Dunn in Phil. Trans. LII. 185 In taking altitudes, I always observe, when the sun, or other celestial body, is as near the prime vertical, or east and west azimuth, as possible. 1868Lockyer Elem. Astron. iv. xxvi. (1879) 147.
†c. at, of prime face [F. de prime face], at first sight, prima facie. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 870 (919) This accident so petous was to here And ek so lyk a soth at pryme face. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. vi. (Skeat) l. 57 At the prime face, me semed them noble and glorious to all the people. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 10173 But thow make resistence Be tymes & at prime face. 1490Caxton Eneydos xv. 56 It appiered of prymeface, that the heuens were broken and parted a sondre.
d. prime ratio: the initial limiting ratio between two variable quantities which simultaneously recede from definite fixed values or limits. (Correl. to ultimate ratio.)
The method of prime and ultimate ratios is essentially the same as the method of limits in the differential and integral calculus (see limit n. 2 b).
B. as adv. In prime order, excellently. colloq.
1648Gage West Ind. 148 If the Indians bring that which is not prime good, they shall surely be lashed. 1785Burns To James Smith iv, My barmie noddle's working prime. 1886C. Scott Sheep-farming 96 The hoggets will be prime fat by Christmas.
Add:[4.] c. In trivial or ironic use: excellent, splendid; wonderful. (Usu. predic. or as exclamation.) colloq.
a1637B. Jonson Sad Shepherd (1783) i. vi. 22 Had you good sport i' your chace to-day?... O prime! 1837Dickens Pickw. xxix. 310 ‘Capital!’ said Mr. Benjamin Allen. ‘Prime!’ ejaculated Mr. Bob Sawyer. 1842Barham Black Mousquetaire in Ingol. Leg. 2nd. Ser. 2 Your thorough French Courtier..Thinks it prime fun to astonish a citizen. 1899E. Nesbit Story of Treasure Seekers xii. 244 We had a feast—like a picnic—all sitting anywhere, and eating with our fingers. It was prime. 1941M. E. Chase Windswept 58 It's mighty prime of you to trust a plain country carpenter like me to do your job for you. 1981W. Russell Educating Rita i. iii. 17 Oh that's prime, isn't it? That's justice for y'. I get failed just cos I'm more well read than the friggin' examiner!
▪ V. prime, v.1|praɪm|
[Origin uncertain.
If sense 1 was the source of primage, primegilt, it must be older than the quotations show. The fact that, in most of the senses, ‘priming’ is a first operation preliminary to something else, suggests connexion with L. prīmus.]
1. trans. To fill, charge, load. Now chiefly dial.
1513Douglas æneis iii. vi. 213 Our kervalis howis ladis and prymys he With huge charge of siluir in quantite. 1606G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine Pref., To read as birds skip from bow to bough, more to prime their bils, then benefit their bodies. 1791J. Learmont Poems 199 Her bottle prim'd came last night frae the town. 1805McIndoe Poems 149 John calmly prim'd his nose. 1883G. McMichael Way thr. Ayrshire 126 The injector for priming the steam boiler.
2. a. To supply (a fire-arm of old-fashioned type, or more strictly its pan) with gunpowder for communicating fire to a charge; also, to lay a train of powder to (any charge, a mine, etc.); cf. priming vbl. n.1 1, 2. Also intr. or absol.
1598Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 17 He ought to haue his peece readie charged and primed. Ibid. iii. i. 35 Then to prime his pan with touch powder. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xiv. 88 We took a Pistol.., and..prim'd it with well dry'd Gun-powder. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. ix, Before he had time to prime again. 1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 251 The commanding officer orders the battalion to prime and load. 1873E. Spon Workshop Receipts Ser. i. 127/2 Rockets are primed with mealed powder and spirits of wine. 1895G. Meredith Amazing Marriage i. viii, Midway on the lake he perceived his boatman about to prime a pistol.
†b. To put (powder) in the touch-pan. Obs.
1610B. Jonson Alch. v. v, An old Hargubuzier..Could prime his poulder, and giue fire, and hit, All in a twinckling.
3. fig. and transf.
a. To charge, fill, or fully furnish (a person) beforehand with information which he may subsequently give forth or otherwise use.
1791Cumberland Observer No. 130. V. 44, I primed my lips with such a ready charge of flattery, that [etc.]. 1800Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 254 All that I can say is that I am ready primed, and that if all matters suit, I shall go off with a dreadful explosion. 1876T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 234 Primed with their morning's knowledge as they appeared to be. 1884Manch. Exam. 20 Sept. 5/3 Every man present..is primed with a speech which he is not satisfied till he has delivered.
b. To fill with liquor.
1823Hints for Oxford 73 A determination when they sit down to table to have a row as soon as they are primed, and often before they rise they commence the work of destruction on glasses and plates and decanters. 1854G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce viii, A fat little man, primed with port.
4. a. to prime a pump: see quots., and cf. fang v.2 2, fetch v. 2 c. (= F. charger la pompe.) Also fig.
a1840–[In common use in south of Scotland]. 1882Ogilvie (Annandale), To prime a pump, to pour water down the tube with the view of saturating the sucker, so causing it to swell, and act effectually in bringing up water. 1894Northumbld. Gloss., Prime, to pour water into a pump bucket to make it lift. When a pump bucket becomes dry and leaky and fails to induce suction, it is said to have lost its primin. [Known in South Yorksh.] 1930Engineering 11 Apr. 473/1 Special arrangements for priming the pumps are not required, as the latter themselves exhaust all the air automatically during the first few revolutions, when the engine is being started on compressed air. 1973L. Russell Everyday Life Colonial Canada v. 64 The..shaft had a piston with a leather diaphragm, which had to be wetted (‘primed’) by pouring a little water into the pump. 1977T. Sharpe Gt. Pursuit xiii. 124 Significance is all... Prime the pump with meaningful hogwash.
b. Aeronaut. To inject fuel into (the cylinders of an aircraft engine) to facilitate starting. Also intr., or with the engine as obj.
1915G. A. Burls Aero Engines i. 20 L is a cock, or tap, communicating with the ‘combustion chamber’..and may be used to ‘prime’ the chamber with a few drops of petrol. 1927V. W. Pagé Mod. Aircraft (1928) xiv. 571 Prime engine by injecting a small quantity..of gasoline through each priming cock. 1931M. M. Farleigh Princ. & Probl. Aircraft Engines x. 166 The cylinders should then be primed with fresh gasoline in the case of extreme sub-zero climatic conditions. 1939Aero Engines II. 256 Do not prime excesively,..one stroke of the priming pump usually being found sufficient for a hot engine. 1941A. W. Judge Aircraft Engines II. xi. 395 If the engine had been properly primed with mixture it was possible to start it by means of the starter magneto alone. 1977D. Beaty Excellency vi. 80 He primed the engines, pressed the starter button, heard the propeller creak round.
c. fig. Cf. pump-priming vbl. n.
1959Conferences & Exhibitions Mar. 23/2 The aim is to introduce a trade to a fair in which it has not exhibited before by ‘priming the pump’. 1963Times 26 Jan. 12/1 He was understandably slow to prime the pump when a quick success in the Brussels negotiations might have given enough extra, uncontrollable impetus to start an inflation.
5. a. To cover (a surface of wood, canvas, etc.) with a ground or first colour or coat of paint, or with size, oil, etc. to prevent the paint from being absorbed: cf. priming vbl. n.1 3, 4.
1609MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Rec. for primyng wood ijs. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxxiv. 49 To Paint them, you must first Prime them. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 182 His..works are chiefly..on a fine linen cloth, smoothly primed with a proper tone to help the harmony of his shadows. 1801Fuseli in Lect. Paint. i. (1848) 350 A plane or tablet primed with white. 1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 220 The intention of priming the ground with size or oil is to prevent the very rapid absorption of the colours.
†b. transf. To ‘make up’ (the face, etc.) with cosmetics. Obs.
1609[see priming colour s.v. priming vbl. n.1 10]. a1683Oldham Sat. Poetry Poet. Wks. (1686) 172 Commend her Beauty, and bely her Glass, By which she every morning primes her face. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. II. 18 July Let. i, Her face was primed and patched from the chin up to the eyes. 1782J. Trumbull McFingal 56 Your gay sparks..With wampom'd blankets hid their laces, And like their sweethearts, primed their faces.
6. intr. Engineering. Of an engine boiler: To let water pass to the cylinder in the form of spray along with the steam.
1832Edin. Rev. LVI. 139 The steam..is charged with water suspended in it in minute subdivision—an effect called by engineers priming. 1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 456/2 The carrying over of water with the steam... There are moments when this effect is so violent, that it manifests itself externally in the form of an abundant fall of rain from the top of the funnel. The engine is then said to prime; and this takes place especially when the boiler is too full. 1849Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. VIII. 182 When a steam-vessel came from sea and entered the Thames, she began to prime at the moment of passing from salt to fresh water. 1881Thwaite Factories & Workshops, etc. (1882) 138 If a boiler foams or primes, it is because it has insufficient steam room or because the feed water is dirty.
7. trans. Biol. and Med. To treat (an animal or tissue) so as to induce a desired susceptibility or proclivity.
1943Jrnl. Endocrinol. III. 273 Excellent results were obtained with rabbits..primed by five daily injections of 2 mg. of AP61B or AP118B. Ibid., Of eleven rabbits primed with five daily doses of 1 mg. only four accepted the buck. 1963Rec. Progress Hormone Res. XIX. 674 In the latter effect, the body is in a true sense ‘primed’ for new biological activity. 1967Science 17 Nov. 939/3 The 30 mice anesthetized with ether were exposed for 30 seconds to atmosphere containing 5 ml of ether per 1 liter of air; half of these were acoustically primed 10 seconds later. 1971Nature 24 Dec. 456/1 In guinea-pigs primed with DNP-OA, injection of allogeneic lymphoid cells stimulates synthesis of antibodies to both hapten and carrier. 1975Jrnl. Compar. & Physiol. Psychol. LXXXIX. 214/2 At 16 days postnatally, 18..mice were acoustically primed by a 30-sec exposure to the sound produced by an electric bell.
Hence ˈprimed ppl. a., (a) prepared to receive paint; (b) Biol. and Med., rendered susceptible; prepared; (cf. sense 7 above).
1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Painting, The Primed Cloth, which is usually good Canvas made smooth, sized over with a little Honey, and when dry'd, whited over with Size and Whiting..upon which you paint. 1799G. Smith Laboratory II. 64 Having first made a rough sketch upon your primed cloth with white chalk. 1943Jrnl. Endocrinol. III. 273 In considering the question of inducing superovulation from the primed ovary, the first question arising is whether the ovulation-producing act of mating is sufficient to cause ovulation in a greater than normal number of follicles. 1960Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. CIV. 589/2 The primed mechanism responds to the second stimulus of the protein, but the resulting antibody is apparently specific for certain particular loci on the protein surface. 1967Science 17 Nov. 940/1 Biochemical examinations of primed and nonprimed mice may reveal whether differences in oxidative phosphorylation..are associated with changes in audiogenic seizure susceptibility. 1975Behavior Genetics V. 328 In an attempt to determine the increase in susceptibility due exclusively to acoustic priming, the seizure severity scores from the nonprimed..mice of a concurrently run study..were subtracted from the severity scores of the primed, non-cross-fostered mice of the present study.
[3.] [a.] For def. read: To charge or furnish (a person) fully with information; to prepare, make ready, or train fully for a particular purpose or to carry out a specific task. (Later examples.)
1863J. H. Speke Jrnl. Discovery Source of Nile xiv. 441, I primed him well to plead for the road. 1938S. Beckett Murphy ix. 165 Bom, primed by Bim, expected nothing from Murphy. 1951W. C. Williams Autobiogr. ix. 40 We went two or three times a week and saw men being primed for duels. 1984S. Bellow Him with his Foot in his Mouth 288, I considered whether Sable was priming me to make her a proposal.
▪ VI. prime, v.2|praɪm|
[f. prime a. or n.1 With sense 2 cf. F. primer to take the first place, lead, anticipate, outstrip, f. prime prime a.]
†1. intr. Of the moon: To enter on the first phase; to become new, appear first after the change.
1549–62Sternhold & H. Ps. lxxii. vii, Vntill the Moone shall leaue to prime, waste, chaunge, and to encrease. 1647J. Heydon Discov. Fairfax 6 So long as the Sun shall shine, or the Moon prime.
2. To be first; to domineer; to lord it. So to prime it. ? Obs.
1756F. Greville Maxims, Charac. & Refl. 78 Whether men like best to prime over others, or to have others prime over them. 1805W. Taylor Hist. Surv. Germ. Poetry (1830) I. 332 Lessing loved to prime, and was adapted for it. 1821Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 340 Harvard will still prime it over us with her twenty Professors.
3. Of a tide: To come at a shorter interval: usually in priming vbl. n.2 (So F. primer.)
1890C. A. Young Elem. Astron. viii. §267 At the time of the spring tides, the interval between the corresponding tides of successive days is less than the average, being only about 24 hours 38 minutes (instead of 24 hours 51 minutes), and then the tides are said to prime. At the neap tides, the interval is greater than the mean—about 25 hours 6 minutes, and the tide lags.
▪ VII. prime, v.3|praɪm|
[Origin obscure. ? Related to proyne, prune.]
1. trans. To prune or trim (trees). Also fig.
1565T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 86 b, The vine being..primed multiplieth the more. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 114 They..prime and draw such woods as grow too thick and obscure. 1613Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb iv. ii, Two-edged winds that prime The maiden blossoms. 1631MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., To Newton for priming our trees iiijs. 1790Cullum Hist. Hawsted iii. Gloss. 172 Priming a tree, is pruning it. 1823E. Moor Suffolk Words, Priming, pruning the lower, or washboughs of a tree. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Prime, to trim up the stems of trees; to give them the first dressing or training. 1884American VII. 350 All he needs is to prime down extravagances and modify excesses in voice and expression.
2. U.S. To pull off the lower leaves of tobacco plants.
1792J. Pope Tour S. & W. Terr. U.S. 63 [The Creeks] scarcely ever weed, hill, prime, top or succour their Tobacco. 1963H. Garner Best Stories 167 Taking suckers first make [sic] it better to prime after. Ibid. 168, I thought of the rows upon rows still to be primed of sand leaves, the lowest leaves on the plant.
▪ VIII. prime, v.4|praɪm|
[Origin unascertained.]
intr. Of a fish: To leap or ‘rise’.
1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 41 In fine sunshiny days, carps will often prime about noon and swim about the edges of a pond to catch such flies as fall upon the surface of the water. Ibid. 168 Prime, fish are said to prime when they leap out of the water. 1867F. Francis Angling iii. (1880) 76 When the angler notes a bubble or two..left after the priming of large fish. 1883G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xii. (1884) 93 The bream are ‘priming’ in shoals on the top of the water. |