Definition of "prime" in Englisch

adjective

First in importance, degree, or rank.
- Our prime concern here is to keep the community safe.
First in time, order, or sequence.
- Both the English and French governments established prime meridians in their capitals.
First in excellence, quality, or value.
- This is a prime location for a bookstore.
(mathematics, lay) Having exactly two integral factors: itself and unity (1 in the case of integers).
- Thirteen is a prime number.
(mathematics, technical) Such that if it divides a product, it divides one of the multiplicands.
(algebra, of an ideal) Having its complement closed under multiplication.
(algebra, of a nonzero module) Such that the annihilator of any nonzero submodule is equal to the annihilator of the whole module.
Marked or distinguished by the prime symbol.
Early; blooming; being in the first stage.
(obsolete) Lecherous, lewd, lustful.

noun

(historical) The first hour of daylight; the first canonical hour.
(Christianity) The religious service appointed to this hour.
(obsolete) The early morning generally.
(now rare) The earliest stage of something.
- 1645, Edmund Waller, “To a very young Lady” (earlier title: “To my young Lady Lucy Sidney”) in Poems, &c. Written upon Several Occasions, and to Several Persons, London: H. Herringman, 1686, p. 101, Hope waits upon the flowry prime,
The most active, thriving, or successful stage or period.
The chief or best individual or part.
- Give him always of the prime; And but a little at a time.
Something which is first in importance or rank: a prime defense company, mortgage lender, etc.
- The large primes are struggling to do things the way Anduril does, because they're publicly traded companies with an existing investor class that invested in them to be a certain type of company.
(music) The first note or tone of a musical scale.
(fencing) The first defensive position, with the sword hand held at head height, and the tip of the sword at head height.
(algebra, number theory) A prime element of a mathematical structure, particularly a prime number.
- 3 is a prime.
(card games) A four-card hand containing one card of each suit in the game of primero; the opposite of a flush in poker.

(backgammon) A series of consecutive blocks. A prime of six prevents the opponent's pieces from passing.

I'm threatening to build a prime here.

The symbol ′ used to indicate feet, minutes, derivation and other measures and mathematical operations.

(chemistry, obsolete) Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1.

An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system.

(obsolete) The priming in a flintlock.

(film) Contraction of prime lens, a film lens.

Tomlinson, Shawn M. (2015), Going Pro for $200 & How to Choose a Prime Lens, →ISBN, page 72: “By the time I shifted to my first autofocus film SLR with the Pentax PZ-10, primes were considered things of the past”

A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.

(psychology) A stimulus which causes priming.

verb

(transitive) To fill or prepare the chamber of a mechanism for its main work.
- You'll have to press this button twice to prime the fuel pump.
(transitive) To apply a coat of primer paint to.
- I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat.
(obsolete, intransitive) To be renewed.
(intransitive) To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.
(intransitive, of a steam boiler) To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed.
To apply priming to (a musket or cannon); to apply a primer to (a metallic cartridge).
To prepare; to make ready.
- The boys are primed for mischief.
(archaic) To instruct beforehand, as for an examination; to coach.
- to prime a witness
(UK, dialect, obsolete) To trim or prune.
- to prime trees
(mathematics) To mark with a prime mark.

noun

(cycling) An intermediate sprint within a race, usually offering a prize and/or points.