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P — Primiparous to Principle (Part 1 of 7)

Primiparous
(Pri*mip"a*rous) a. [See Primipara.] Belonging to a first birth; bearing young for the first time.

Primipilar
(Pri*mip"i*lar) a. [L. primipilaris, fr. primipilus the centurion of the first cohort of a Roman legion, fr. primus pilus the division made up of the triarii in the Roman army.] Of or pertaining to the captain of the vanguard of a Roman army. Barrow.

Primitia
(||Pri*mi"ti*a) n.; pl. Primitiæ (#) obs.). [L. primitiae, pl., fr. primus first. Cf. Premices.] (Eng. Law) The first fruit; the first year's whole profit of an ecclesiastical preferment.

The primitias of your parsonage.
Spenser.

Primitial
(Pri*mi"tial) a. Being of the first production; primitive; original. [Obs.] Ainsworth.

Primitive
(Prim"i*tive) a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.]

1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive great sire." Milton.

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

3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar.

Primitive axes of coördinate (Geom.), that system of axes to which the points of a magnitude are first referred, with reference to a second set or system, to which they are afterward referred. — Primitive chord (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of which is of the same literal denomination as the fundamental base of the harmony; — opposed to derivative. Moore — Primitive circle (Spherical Projection), the circle cut from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane. — Primitive colors (Paint.), primary colors. See under Color. — Primitive Fathers (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D. 325. Shipley. — Primitive groove (Anat.), a depression or groove in the epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of it. — Primitive plane (Spherical Projection), the plane upon which the projections are made, generally coinciding with some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a meridian. — Primitive rocks (Geol.), primary rocks. See under Primary. — Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma. — Primitive streak or trace (Anat.), an opaque and thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the vertebrate blastoderm.

Syn. — First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval; antiquated; old-fashioned.

Primitive
(Prim"i*tive), n. An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; — opposed to derivative.

Primitively
(Prim"i*tive*ly), adv.

1. Originally; at first.

2. Primarily; not derivatively.

3. According to the original rule or ancient practice; in the ancient style. South.

Primitiveness
(Prim"i*tive*ness), n. The quality or state of being primitive; conformity to primitive style or practice.

Primity
(Prim"i*ty) n. Quality of being first; primitiveness. [Obs.] Bp. Pearson.