prime

noun \ ˈprīm \

Updated on: 21 May 2018

1 a often 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 sunrise

2 a : the earliest stage

b : spring

c : youth

3 : 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 number

6 a : the first note or tone of a musical scale : tonic

b : the interval between two notes on the same staff degree

7 : the symbol ′ used to distinguish arbitrary characters (such as a and a′), to indicate a specific unit (such as feet or minutes of time or angular measure), or to indicate the derivative of a function (such as p′ or f′(x)) — compare double prime

8 : prime rate

See prime defined for English-language learners

See prime defined for kids

Examples of prime in a Sentence

young college graduates in the prime of life
The interest rate is two percent plus prime.

Recent Examples of prime from the Web

Strasburg, 29, is a three-time All-Star with a $175 million contract in the prime of his career, seemingly validating the Nationals’ infamous decision to shut him down in September 2012, before the playoffs.

— tyler kepner, New York Times, "A No-Hitter Brings Out Canadian Pitching Pride," 12 May 2018
At one point, the conversation turned to Kobe Bryant, then in the prime of a Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

— doug haller, azcentral, "How James Harden foreshadowed his basketball future during his time at ASU," 11 May 2018
But Leonard is still a two-time All-Star and elite defender in the prime of his career.

— andrew joseph, For The Win, "LaVar Ball on if Kawhi Leonard is a better player than Lonzo Ball: 'Hell no'," 8 May 2018
While suffering a stroke in the prime of your life is indeed rare, Jacksonville resident Alyssa Duane defied the odds last July.

— madeleine marr, miamiherald, "One minute she was getting ready for work. The next she was on the floor, unable to move | Miami Herald," 7 May 2018
While Mueller had a team of more than a dozen seasoned prosecutors at the prime of their careers, Trump’s team was led by Dowd, who had decades of experience with large-scale investigations but was in solo practice and nearing retirement.

— shannon pettypiece, Bloomberg.com, "Trump’s Legal Team Lacks Security Clearances Needed for Mueller Negotiations," 2 May 2018
Still on the outskirts of his prime, Aldridge should be central to whatever the roster looks like next season.

— jeff mcdonald, San Antonio Express-News, "A look at what to expect this offseason from the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and others," 28 Apr. 2018
As one set of American golf stars was unquestionably on the wrong side of their primes, a new American superstar was born that year at Augusta: Jordan Spieth.

— daniel rapaport, SI.com, "Best Masters Memories From the Past 20 Years: No. 3 - Jordan Spieth's Record Performance," 2 Apr. 2018
This musical flick stars Raven Symoné at her Disney Channel prime and the music and dancing is beyond Cheetah-fierce with it's super powerful girl power message.

— noelle devoe, Seventeen, "The 9 Best Disney Channel Original Movies You Can Watch on Netflix," 25 Oct. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of prime

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

prime Synonyms

Other Calendar Terms

antedate, estival, gloaming, luster, sesquicentennial

prime

adjective

1 : first in time : original

2 a : of, relating to, or being a prime number — compare relatively prime

b : having no polynomial factors other than itself and no monomial factors other than 1

a prime polynomial

c : expressed as a product of prime factors (such as prime numbers and prime polynomials)

a prime factorization

3 a : first in rank, authority, or significance : principal

a prime example

b : having the highest quality or value

prime farmland

c : of the highest grade regularly marketed —used of meat and especially beef

4 : not deriving from something else : primary

—

primely

adverb

—

primeness

noun

See prime defined for English-language learners

Examples of prime in a Sentence

The wine industry is of prime importance to the California economy.
The police have not yet named the prime suspect in the murder investigation.
The house is expensive because it's in a prime location.

Recent Examples of prime from the Web

So, though the prime era of book-burning has passed, and with it the atmosphere that created Fahrenheit 451, the symbolism is baked into the world’s memory, and words on fire are still a tragically powerful image.

— lily rothman, Time, "The Real History Behind Book Burning and Fahrenheit 451," 18 May 2018
Union Jacks have been unfurled, security barriers and police patrols put into place, and fans were already camping out to capture the prime viewing positions for Saturday’s royal carriage ride through the town.

— jill lawless, BostonGlobe.com, "Stage is set for royal wedding," 18 May 2018
Sills, who tied Memphis’s Anthony Miller for the FBS lead with 18 touchdown receptions in 2017, should amass another eye-popping stat line as a prime pass-catching threat in one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

— chris johnson, SI.com, "The Most Intriguing Dark Horses of the Offseason Heisman Hype Machine," 17 May 2018
Commuters rarely fill the park-and-ride lots at the Orange Line busway stations in Van Nuys, Tarzana and Canoga Park, which would be prime candidates for homeless services, Metro said.

— laura j. nelson, latimes.com, "L.A. transit officials consider Metro-owned sites in Valley, Venice to aid homeless," 17 May 2018
But the prime concern is that our lives are fast changing.

— Washington Post, "Kashmir nomads wonder what place they have in today’s India," 17 May 2018
The plan would shift workers from a pension fund’s defined benefit plan to a 401(k)-style plan — a prime point of contention.

— greg trotter, chicagotribune.com, "Oreo parent Mondelez sweetens deal, but union isn't biting," 16 May 2018
The prime seats were courtesy of Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans.

— maureen groppe, Indianapolis Star, "Who paid for Colts tickets to game Pence abruptly left? Disclosure report spills the beans," 16 May 2018
Now, the prime suspect in the breach has been identified: a 29-year-old former C.I.A. software engineer who had designed malware used to break into the computers of terrorism suspects and other targets, The New York Times has learned.

— scott shane, New York Times, "Suspect Identified in C.I.A. Leak Was Charged, but Not for the Breach," 15 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of prime

Middle English, from Anglo-French, feminine of prim first, from Latin primus; akin to Latin prior

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

prime Synonyms

Synonyms

A-OK, A1, awesome, bang-up, banner, beautiful, blue-chip, blue-ribbon, brave, bully, bumper, capital, choice, classic, cool [slang], corking, crackerjack, dandy, divine, dynamite, excellent, fab, fabulous, famous, fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, first-string, five-star, four-star, frontline, gilt-edged (or gilt-edge), grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-class, hot, immense, jim-dandy, lovely, marvelous (or marvellous), mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, peachy, prize, prizewinning, quality, sensational, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, top-of-the-line, topflight, unsurpassed, wonderful;

Antonyms

atrocious, awful, execrable, lousy, pathetic, poor, rotten, terrible, vile, wretched;

Near Antonyms

bad, inferior, low-grade, substandard, unsatisfactory;

mediocre, middling, second-class, second-rate;

better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, high-test, premium, select, special, superfine;

classical, standard, traditional;

Phrases

out of this world, too much;

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

prime

verb

primed; priming

transitive verb

1 : fill, load

2 a : to prepare for firing by supplying with priming

b : to insert a primer into (a cartridge case)

3 : to apply the first color, coating, or preparation to

prime a wall

4 a : to put into working order by filling or charging with something

prime a pump with water

b : to supply with an essential prerequisite (such as a hormone, nucleic acid, or antigen) for chemical or biological activity

primed female mice with estrogen

5 : to instruct beforehand : coach

primed the witness

6 : stimulate

intransitive verb

: to become prime

— prime the pump

: to take steps to encourage the growth or functioning of something

See prime defined for English-language learners

Examples of prime in a Sentence

She was obviously primed for the questions at the press conference.
Both teams are primed for battle and ready to play.
We sanded and primed the woodwork before painting.

Recent Examples of prime from the Web

And try to prime attendees for any special expectations right from the outset.

— priya parker, WSJ, "We’ve Got to Stop Meeting Like This: Tips for Better Workplace Gatherings," 4 May 2018
In fact, Camp is giving away free money to prime the pump.

— robert hackett, Fortune, "Uber Creator Invents New Cryptocurrency—And Wants Your Help Making It Reality," 1 Mar. 2018
This will prevent one process from being able to prime the branch predictor used by another, which should curtail, if not outright eliminate, the Spectre branch prediction attack.

— peter bright, Ars Technica, "Meltdown and Spectre: Here’s what Intel, Apple, Microsoft, others are doing about it," 5 Jan. 2018
Who would have thought a predilection for IPA might prime the male palate for Prosecco?

— lettie teague, WSJ, "How Italy’s Favorite Bubbly Beguiled Us," 9 Mar. 2018
But chocolate isn't the only food that can prime you physically or mentally for a bedroom session.

— julia naftulin, Health.com, "6 Foods to Eat If You Want to Feel Sexier (And Who Doesn't?!)," 2 Feb. 2018
Attempts to prime the state's gasoline tax, its main source for road work resources, failed during last year's legislative session.

— greg larose, NOLA.com, "I-10 flyover at Armstrong Airport among projects Gov. Edwards says Louisiana can fund," 12 Jan. 2018
In mouse experiments, A. muciniphila spurred immune cells to release a chemical signal called IL-2, which is known to regulate T-cells and prime them to attack.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Gut bacteria may make or break your chances of cancer treatment working," 5 Nov. 2017
The worst fires in Northern California tend to hit in October, when dry conditions prime them to spread fast and far as heavy winds, known as north winds or diablo winds, buffet the region.

— thomas fuller, jonah engel bromwich and maggie astor, New York Times, "California Fires Kill at Least 10 and Destroy 1,500 Buildings," 9 Oct. 2017

Origin and Etymology of prime

probably from ¹prime

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1513

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

Financial Definition of PRIME

prime

noun

What It Is

In the finance world, prime is short for prime rate, which is the interest rate commercial banks charge their most creditworthy customers, which are usually corporations.

How It Works

Anyone who has borrowed money knows that different banks charge different interest rates. So when people refer to the prime rate, they are usually referring to the average prime rate among banks. The Wall Street Journal is the most common source for this statistic. It calculates the average prime rate by surveying the 30 largest banks in the U.S. Below is a sample graph of the historical average prime rate published by the Federal Reserve, which surveys 25 banks across the nation.

In general, the rate is the same among nearly all the surveyed banks, and they tend to change their rates at the same time. When 75% of these banks (23 banks) change their rates, The Wall Street Journal changes its average.

Why It Matters

Prime is one of the most widely used market indicators, albeit a lagging one, and it is a major benchmark for mortgage and credit card rates. It is often the basis for adjustable-rate loans. For example, if a bank is offering a home equity loan at “prime plus 5” and its prime rate is 6%, then the bank is essentially offering borrowers an 11% loan (6% + 5%) whose interest rate will fluctuate with the prime rate. It is important to remember that not everyone qualifies for prime -- this rate is only for customers least likely to default.

Source: Investing Answers

PRIME Defined for English Language Learners

prime

noun

: the period in life when a person is best in health, strength, etc. : the most active or successful time of a person's life

prime

adjective

: most important
: of the highest quality or value
—used to say that someone or something is a very good example of a particular kind of person or thing

prime

verb

: to make (someone) ready to do something
: to make (something) ready for use
: to cover (a surface) with special paint in order to prepare it for the final layer of paint

PRIME Defined for Kids

prime

noun \ ˈprīm \

: the period in life when a person is best in health, looks, or strength

prime

adjective

: first in importance, rank, or quality

Spring is a prime season to work outdoors.

prime

verb

primed; priming

1 : to put a first color or coating on

Prime the wall before painting.

2 : to put into working order by filling

prime a pump

3 : to make (someone or something) ready

The coach is priming him to be quarterback.

Law Dictionary

prime

noun

1 : prime rate

2 : general contractor

prime

transitive verb

primed; priming

: to have priority over

a perfected security interest primes an unperfected one

Learn More about prime

See words that rhyme with prime Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for prime Spanish Central: Translation of prime Nglish: Translation of prime for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of prime for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about prime

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prime

primely

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prime

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