||Pri*ma"tes (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) The highest order of mammals. It
||includes man, together with the apes and monkeys. Cf. Pitheci.
Pri"mate*ship (?), n. The office, dignity, or position of a primate;
primacy.
Pri*ma"tial (?), a. [Cf. F. primatial.] Primatical. [R.] D'Anville
(Trans. ).
Pri*mat"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a primate. Barrow.
Prime (?), 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.
She was not the prime cause, but I myself.
Milton.
In this sense the word is nearly superseded by primitive, except in the
phrase prime cost.
2. First in rank, degree, dignity, authority, or importance; as, prime
minister. "Prime virtues." Dryden.
3. First in excellence; of highest quality; as, prime wheat; a prime
quality of cloth.