Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter P - Page 121

Primipara (n.) A woman who bears a child for the first time.

Primiparous (a.) Belonging to a first birth; bearing young for the first time.

Primipilar (a.) Of or pertaining to the captain of the vanguard of a Roman army.

Primitiae (pl. ) of Primitia

Primitias (pl. ) of Primitia

Primitia (n.) The first fruit; the first year's whole profit of an ecclesiastical preferment.

Primitial (a.) Being of the first production; primitive; original.

Primitive (a.) Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church.

Primitive (a.) Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of dress.

Primitive (a.) Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar.

Primitive (n.) An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; -- opposed to derivative.

Primitively (adv.) Originally; at first.

Primitively (adv.) Primarily; not derivatively.

Primitively (adv.) According to the original rule or ancient practice; in the ancient style.

Primitiveness (n.) The quality or state of being primitive; conformity to primitive style or practice.

Primity (n.) Quality of being first; primitiveness.

Primly (adv.) In a prim or precise manner.

Primness (n.) The quality or state of being prim; affected formality or niceness; preciseness; stiffness.

Primo (a.) First; chief.

Primogenial (a.) First born, made, or generated; original; primary; elemental; as, primogenial light.

Primogenitive (a.) Of or pertaining to primogeniture.

Primogenitive (n.) Primogeniture.

Primogenitor (n.) The first ancestor; a forefather.

Primogeniture (a.) The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family.

Primogeniture (a.) The exclusive right of inheritance which belongs to the eldest son. Thus in England the right of inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue.

Primogenitureship (n.) The state or privileges of the firstborn.

Primordial (a.) First in order; primary; original; of earliest origin; as, primordial condition.

Primordial (a.) Of or pertaining to the lowest beds of the Silurian age, corresponding to the Acadian and Potsdam periods in American geology. It is called also Cambrian, and by many geologists is separated from the Silurian.

Primordial (a.) Originally or earliest formed in the growth of an individual or organ; as, a primordial leaf; a primordial cell.

Primordial (n.) A first principle or element.

Primordialism (n.) Devotion to, or persistence in, conditions of the primordial state.

Primordially (adv.) At the beginning; under the first order of things; originally.

Primordian (n.) A name given to several kinds of plums; as, red primordian, amber primordian, etc.

Primordiate (a.) Primordial.

Primp (a.) To be formal or affected in dress or manners; -- often with up.

Primrose (a.) An early flowering plant of the genus Primula (P. vulgaris) closely allied to the cowslip. There are several varieties, as the white-, the red-, the yellow-flowered, etc. Formerly called also primerole, primerolles.

Primrose (a.) Any plant of the genus Primula.

Primrose (a.) Of or pertaining to the primrose; of the color of a primrose; -- hence, flowery; gay.

Primula (n.) The genus of plants including the primrose (Primula vera).

Primulaceous (a.) Of or pertaining to an order of herbaceous plants (Primulaceae), of which the primrose is the type, and the pimpernel, the cyclamen, and the water violet are other examples.

Primum mobile () In the Ptolemaic system, the outermost of the revolving concentric spheres constituting the universe, the motion of which was supposed to carry with it all the inclosed spheres with their planets in a daily revolution from east to west. See Crystalline heavens, under Crystalline.

Primus (n.) One of the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, who presides at the meetings of the bishops, and has certain privileges but no metropolitan authority.

Primy (a.) Being in its prime.

Prince (a.) The one of highest rank; one holding the highest place and authority; a sovereign; a monarch; -- originally applied to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female.

Prince (a.) The son of a king or emperor, or the issue of a royal family; as, princes of the blood.

Prince (a.) A title belonging to persons of high rank, differing in different countries. In England it belongs to dukes, marquises, and earls, but is given to members of the royal family only. In Italy a prince is inferior to a duke as a member of a particular order of nobility; in Spain he is always one of the royal family.

Prince (a.) The chief of any body of men; one at the head of a class or profession; one who is preeminent; as, a merchant prince; a prince of players.

Prince (v. i.) To play the prince.

Princedom (n.) The jurisdiction, sovereignty, rank, or estate of a prince.

Princehood (n.) Princeliness.

Princekin (n.) A petty prince; a princeling.

Princeless (a.) Without a prince.

Princelet (n.) A petty prince.

Princelike (a.) Princely.

Princeliness (n.) The quality of being princely; the state, manner, or dignity of a prince.

Princeling (n.) A petty prince; a young prince.

Princely (a.) Of or relating to a prince; regal; royal; of highest rank or authority; as, princely birth, character, fortune, etc.

Princely (a.) Suitable for, or becoming to, a prince; grand; august; munificent; magnificent; as, princely virtues; a princely fortune.

Princely (adv.) In a princely manner.

Princess (n.) A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince.

Princess (n.) The daughter of a sovereign; a female member of a royal family.

Princess (n.) The consort of a prince; as, the princess of Wales.

Princesse (a.) A term applied to a lady's long, close-fitting dress made with waist and skirt in one.

Princesslike (a.) Like a princess.

Princewood (n.) The wood of two small tropical American trees (Hamelia ventricosa, and Cordia gerascanthoides). It is brownish, veined with lighter color.

Princified (a.) Imitative of a prince.

Principal (a.) Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case.

Principal (a.) Of or pertaining to a prince; princely.

Principal (n.) A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; -- distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.

Principal (n.) The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, -- as distinguished from an accessory.

Principal (n.) A chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, -- as distinguished from a surety.

Principal (n.) One who employs another to act for him, -- as distinguished from an agent.

Principal (n.) A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous.

Principal (n.) A capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; -- so called in distinction from interest or profit.

Principal (n.) The construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, -- generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.

Principal (n.) In English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason.

Principal (n.) A heirloom; a mortuary.

Principal (n.) The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing.

Principal (n.) One of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned.

Principal (n.) A principal or essential point or rule; a principle.

Principalities (pl. ) of Principality

Principality (n.) Sovereignty; supreme power; hence, superiority; predominance; high, or the highest, station.

Principality (n.) A prince; one invested with sovereignty.

Principality (n.) The territory or jurisdiction of a prince; or the country which gives title to a prince; as, the principality of Wales.

Principally (adv.) In a principal manner; primarily; above all; chiefly; mainly.

Principalness (n.) The quality of being principal.

Principate (n.) Principality; supreme rule.

Principia (n. pl.) First principles; fundamental beginnings; elements; as. Newton's Principia.

Principial (a.) Elementary.

Principiant (a.) Relating to principles or beginnings.

Principiate (v. t.) To begin; to initiate.

Principiation (n.) Analysis into primary or elemental parts.

Principle (n.) Beginning; commencement.

Principle (n.) A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.

Principle (n.) An original faculty or endowment.

Principle (n.) A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate.

Principle (n.) A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle.

Principle (n.) Any original inherent constituent which characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential properties, and which can usually be separated by analysis; -- applied especially to drugs, plant extracts, etc.

Principled (imp. & p. p.) of Principle

Principling (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Principle

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