primordial en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /pɹaɪˈmɔɹ.di.əl/ (General-American)
- (UK) audio
- /pɹaɪˈmɔː.di.əl/ (UK)
- /pɹɑɪˈmoː.di.əl/ (Australia)
- (US) audio
Etymology
From the Latin prīmōrdiālis (“of the beginning”). Compare primordium and -al.
Meanings
-
(not-comparable) First, earliest or original.
As an archetypal image of primordial unity, the cosmic egg suggests that there is unity and fragmentation, eternity and time.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 9:the primordial facts of our intelligent nature
a. 1857, William Hamilton, edited by H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1859–1860, →OCLC:
-
(not-comparable) Characteristic of the earliest stage of the development of an organism, or relating to a primordium.
a primordial leaf; a primordial cell
- (not-comparable) Primeval.
- (not-comparable) Of an element or isotope: occurring primordially (on Earth) (i.e. inherited from when the Earth was formed); because it is stable, or radioactive but so long-lived that some is left over from when the Earth was formed. For example, primordial radioisotopes (T = half-life in years) include uranium-235 (T = 7×10⁸), potassium-40 (T = 1.25×10⁹), uranium-238 (T = 4.5×10⁹), and thorium-232 (T = 1.4×10¹⁰).
Deriveds
primordial phallus · primordial black hole · primordiality · primordial soup · primordially · primordial sea · primordial ooze · primordial ocean · primordial chaos · primordial element · primordialism · primordial sludge · primordial fluctuations · equiprimordial · nonprimordial · primordial cell
Relateds
exord · exordium · primordium
Translations (39)
fi alku- (earliest) · ja 原初の (earliest) · sv ursprunglig (earliest) · it primordiale (earliest) · is upphafs- (earliest) · ka პირველყოფილი (earliest) · nl oorspronkelijk (earliest) · el αρχέγονος (earliest) · de ursprünglich (earliest) · bg най-ранен (earliest) · es primordial (earliest) · bg първоначален (earliest) · gl primordial (earliest) · is frum- (earliest) · tr kökensel (earliest) · el πρωταρχικός (earliest) · kk әдепкі (earliest) · de primordial (earliest) · ka დასაბამიერი (earliest) · fi alkuperäinen (earliest) · uk пе́рві́сний (earliest) · tr ilk (earliest) · he בְּרֵאשִׁיתִי (earliest) · cmn 原始的 (earliest) · de Ur- (earliest) · pl pierwotny (earliest) · ka თავდაპირველი (earliest) · tr esasî (earliest) · pt primordial (earliest) · ca primordial (earliest) · de Frühzeit- (earliest) · nl oer- (earliest) · ru изнача́льный (earliest) · pl początkowy (earliest) · fr primordial (earliest) · ka ოდინდელი (earliest) · hu ősi (earliest) · is upprunalegur (earliest) · eo praa (primeval)