Word of the Day

: April 22, 2011

primordial

adjective prye-MOR-dee-ul

What It Means

1 a : first created or developed : primeval

b : existing in or persisting from the beginning (as of a solar system or universe)

c : earliest formed in the growth of an individual or organ

2 : fundamental, primary

primordial in Context

All life on Earth supposedly came from a primordial ooze in existence many millions of years ago.

"Indeed, and in spite of all our current observations, physical theories, computer models, and mathematical skill we must not forget that the primordial breath is inherently unknown to us." -- From Martin Beech's 2010 book The Large Hadron Collider

Did You Know?

The history of "primordial" began when the Latin words "primus" (meaning "first") and "ordiri" (meaning "to begin") came together to form "primordium," the Latin word for "origin." When it entered English in the 14th century, "primordial" was used in the general sense "primeval." Early on, there were hints that "primordial" would lend itself well to discussions of the earth's origins. Take, for instance, this passage from a 1398 translation of an encyclopedia called On the Properties of Things: "The virtu of God made primordial mater, in the whiche as it were in massy thinge the foure elementis were . . . nought distinguishd." Nowadays, primordial matter is often referred to in evolutionary theory as "primordial soup," a mixture of organic molecules from which life on earth originated.