a. [ F., fr. L. primus first, a superl. corresponding to the compar. prior former. See Prior, a., Foremost, Former, and cf. Prim, a., Primary, Prince. ] 1. First in order of time; original; primeval; primitive; primary. “Prime forests.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

She was not the prime cause, but I myself. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense the word is nearly superseded by primitive, except in the phrase prime cost. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. First in rank, degree, dignity, authority, or importance; as, prime minister. “Prime virtues.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. First in excellence; of highest quality; as, prime wheat; a prime quality of cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Early; blooming; being in the first stage. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

His starry helm, unbuckled, showed him prime
In manhood where youth ended. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Lecherous; lustful; lewd. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Marked or distinguished by a mark (′) called a prime mark.
In this dictionary the same typographic mark is used to indicate a weak accent in headwords, and minutes of a degree in angle measurements. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Math.) (a) Divisible by no number except itself or unity; as, 7 is a prime number. (b) Having no common factor; -- used with to; as, 12 is prime to 25. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Prime and ultimate ratio. (Math.). See Ultimate. --
Prime conductor. (Elec.) See under Conductor. --
Prime factor (Arith.), a factor which is a prime number. --
Prime figure (Geom.), a figure which can not be divided into any other figure more simple than itself, as a triangle, a pyramid, etc. --
Prime meridian (Astron.), the meridian from which longitude is reckoned, as the meridian of Greenwich or Washington. --
Prime minister, the responsible head of a ministry or executive government; applied particularly to that of England. --
Prime mover. (Mech.) (a) A natural agency applied by man to the production of power. Especially: Muscular force; the weight and motion of fluids, as water and air; heat obtained by chemical combination, and applied to produce changes in the volume and pressure of steam, air, or other fluids; and electricity, obtained by chemical action, and applied to produce alternation of magnetic force. (b) An engine, or machine, the object of which is to receive and modify force and motion as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water-pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the prime mover in English antislavery agitation. --
Prime number (Arith.), a number which is exactly divisible by no number except itself or unity, as 5, 7, 11. --
Prime vertical (Astron.), the vertical circle which passes through the east and west points of the horizon. --
Prime-vertical dial, a dial in which the shadow is projected on the plane of the prime vertical. --
Prime-vertical transit instrument, a transit instrument the telescope of which revolves in the plane of the prime vertical, -- used for observing the transit of stars over this circle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Primed p. pr. & vb. n. Priming. ] [ From Prime, a. ] 1. To apply priming to, as a musket or a cannon; to apply a primer to, as a metallic cartridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To lay the first color, coating, or preparation upon (a surface), as in painting; as, to prime a canvas, a wall. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To prepare; to make ready; to instruct beforehand; to post; to coach; as, to prime a witness; the boys are primed for mischief. [ Colloq. ] Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To trim or prune, as trees. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Math.) To mark with a prime mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

To prime a pump, to charge a pump with water, in order to put it in working condition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The first part; the earliest stage; the beginning or opening, as of the day, the year, etc.; hence, the dawn; the spring. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the very prime of the world. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hope waits upon the flowery prime. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The spring of life; youth; hence, full health, strength, or beauty; perfection. “Cut off in their prime.” Eustace. “The prime of youth.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is first in quantity; the most excellent portion; the best part. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give him always of the prime. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. [ F. prime, LL. prima (sc. hora). See Prime, a. ] The morning; specifically (R. C. Ch.), the first canonical hour, succeeding to lauds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Early and late it rung, at evening and at prime. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Originally, prime denoted the first quarter of the artificial day, reckoned from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m. Afterwards, it denoted the end of the first quarter, that is, 9 a. m. Specifically, it denoted the first canonical hour, as now. Chaucer uses it in all these senses, and also in the sense of def. 1, above. [ 1913 Webster ]

They sleep till that it was pryme large. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Fencing) The first of the chief guards. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Chem.) Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; -- so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1. [ Obs. or Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Arith.) A prime number. See under Prime, a. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system; -- denoted by [ ′ ]. See 2d Inch, n., 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prime of the moon, the new moon at its first appearance. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be renewed, or as at first. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Night's bashful empress, though she often wane,
As oft repeats her darkness, primes again. Quarles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To serve as priming for the charge of a gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed; -- said of a steam boiler. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. At first; primarily. [ Obs. ] South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a prime manner; excellently. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality or state of being first. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quality or state of being prime, or excellent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Originally, the book read at prime, the first canonical hour. LL. primae liber. See Prime, n., 4. ] 1. Originally, a small prayer book for church service, containing the little office of the Virgin Mary; also, a work of elementary religious instruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

The primer, or office of the Blessed Virgin. Bp. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small elementary book for teaching children to read; a reading or spelling book for a beginner. [ 1913 Webster ]

As he sat in the school at his prymer. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Print.) A kind of type, of which there are two species; one, called long primer, intermediate in size between bourgeois and small pica [ see Long primer ]; the other, called great primer, larger than pica. [ 1913 Webster ]

Great primer type. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, primes; specifically, an instrument or device for priming; esp., a cap, tube, or water containing percussion powder or other compound for igniting a charge of gunpowder. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. primer, primier, premier, F. premier. See Premier. ] First; original; primary. [ Obs. ] “The primer English kings.” Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Primer fine (O. Eng. Law), a fine due to the king on the writ or commencement of a suit by fine. Blackstone. --
Primer seizin (Feudal Law), the right of the king, when a tenant in capite died seized of a knight's fee, to receive of the heir, if of full age, one year's profits of the land if in possession, and half a year's profits if the land was in reversion expectant on an estate for life; -- now abolished. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. primera, fr. primero first, from L. primarius. See Premier. ] A game at cards, now unknown. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]