primate

play

noun pri·mate \ ˈprī-ˌmāt or especially for sense 1 -mət \

Definition of primate

1 often capitalized :a bishop who has precedence in a province, a group of provinces, or a nation

2 archaic :one first in authority or rank :leader

[New Latin Primates, from Latin, plural of primat-, primas]

:any of an order (Primates) of mammals that are characterized especially by advanced development of binocular vision resulting in stereoscopic depth perception, specialization of the hands and feet for grasping, and enlargement of the cerebral hemispheres and that include humans, apes, monkeys, and related forms (such as lemurs and tarsiers)

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primateship

play \-ˌship\ noun

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primatial

play \prī-ˈmā-shəl\ adjective

See primate defined for English-language learners

See primate defined for kids

Examples of primate in a Sentence

the Primate of England and Wales

Recent Examples of primate from the Web

Testing in monkeys or other primates is often regarded as the last step before human treatment can be contemplated.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Brain cell replacement for Parkinson's boosted by monkey study," 30 Aug. 2017
Swinging through trees used to be an experience open only to nonhuman primates at the zoo.

— laurel graeber, New York Times, "Events for Children in NYC This Week," 3 Aug. 2017
Many other primates including rhesus monkeys, baboons, and gorillas also acquire plaques with aging, but tau tangles are either absent in those species or don’t fully resemble those seen in humans.

— ryan cross, Science | AAAS, "Elderly chimps may get Alzheimer’s, renewing interest in studying these animals," 1 Aug. 2017
Now, using a combination of brain imaging and single-neuron recording in macaques, biologist Doris Tsao and her colleagues at the California Institute of Technology appear to have finally cracked the neural code for primate face recognition.

— knvul sheikh, Scientific American, "How We Save Face—Researchers Crack the Brain's Facial-Recognition Code," 24 July 2017
There is currently a wing ding of an argument among scientists regarding non-human primates and speech.

— gary thompson, Philly.com, "Look Who's Talking: 'War for the Planet of the Apes' wraps epic trilogy," 11 July 2017
A former graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Stephanie Jett was involved in primate research at the Mobile Zoo until 2011.

— prescotte stokes iii, AL.com, "Monkeys held captive by former zoo employee tested positive for herpes: court documents," 7 July 2017
These brownish, dog-sized primates live in troops of dozens of males and females.

— michael price, Science | AAAS, "Are some primates wired for sexual harassment?," 6 July 2017
Post-mortems of primates showed serious lung infections, not unlike those in Londoners of the time.

— constance casey, New York Times, "Hippos and Monkeys and Chimps, Oh My! The History of the London Zoo," 3 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'primate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of primate

Middle English primat, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin primat-, primas archbishop, from Latin, leader, from primus

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

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PRIMATE Defined for English Language Learners

primate

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noun

Definition of primate for English Language Learners

: any member of the group of animals that includes human beings, apes, and monkeys
: the highest ranking priest in a particular country or area in some Christian churches (such as the Church of England)