prime (1) definition - Dictionary

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	prime number

	prime rate

	prime time

	prime vertical

	primer (1)

	primer (2)

	primera dama

	primers

	primeval

	primi

	primigravida

	priming

	primipara

	primitive

	primitivism

	primo

	primogenitor

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prime (1)

prime [ prīm ]

adjective

Definition:

1. first in importance: of the greatest importance or the highest rank

2. best: of the highest quality

prime grade beef

3. earliest: earliest in time or sequence

4. mathematics not divisible without remainder: describes a number that can be divided without a remainder only by one and itself

5. mathematics lacking common factors: describes a number that has no common factors with another number

15 is prime to 8.

noun (plural primes)

Definition:

1. best stage of something: the best state or stage of something, especially the most active and enjoyable period in adult life

in the prime of life

2. earliest period of something: the earliest part of something, e.g. the early hours of daylight or the first season of the year

3. distinguishing mark: a mark (′) added to a number, character, or expression in order to distinguish it from another, or as the symbol for measurement in feet or the minutes of an arc

4. music first note in musical scale: the first note of a musical scale

5. christianity second canonical hour: in the Roman Catholic Church, the second of the seven separate hours canonical hours that are set aside for prayer each day

6. fencing first parrying position: the first of the eight parrying positions in fencing

7. mathematics
Same as prime number

8. finance
Same as prime rate

[Pre-12th century. Via French< Latin primus "first"]

prime·ness noun

Cultural Note


	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a novel (1961) by British writer Muriel Spark. The best known of Spark's novels, it is set in an Edinburgh girls' school and describes the powerful and lasting influence of an unconventional schoolteacher, Miss Jean Brodie, on a group of promising but impressionable pupils. It was adapted for the theater in 1966 and made into a movie by Ronald Neame in 1968.