Main Entry:

¹prime

Pronunciation:

\ˈprīm\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English, from Old English prīm, from Latin prima hora first hour

Date:

before 12th century

1 aoften capitalized : the second of the canonical hours b: the first hour of the day usually considered either as 6 a.m. or the hour of sunrise2 a: the earliest stage b: spring c: youth3: the most active, thriving, or satisfying stage or period <in the prime of his life>4: the chief or best individual or part : pick <prime of the flock, and choicest of the stall — Alexander Pope>5: prime number6 a: the first note or tone of a musical scale : tonic b: the interval between two notes on the same staff degree7: the symbol ′ used to distinguish arbitrary characters (as a and a′), to indicate a specific unit (as feet or minutes of time or angular measure), or to indicate the derivative of a function (as p′ or f′(x)) — compare double prime8: prime rate