Where does “primate” come from?
Primate comes from French primate, from Latin primas, from Latin primus meaning "first," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per-.
primate (English): A mammal of the order "Primates", including...
Definitions
- A mammal of the order "Primates", including...
Ancestry of “primate”, step by step
primate traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French primate
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | primate | primate mammal |
| 2 | Latin | prīmās | one of the first or principal, chief, excellent, noble; alternative form of prīmus |
| 3 | Latin | -ās | Used to form gentilic adjectives with the meaning "of/from" a country or place |
| 4 | Latin | -ātis | first conjugation |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via Middle English primat
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | primat | — |
| 2 | Old French | primat | — |
| 3 | Late Latin | primas | chief; chief; noble; one of the first or... |
| 4 | Latin | prīmus | — |
| 5 | Latin | prīsmos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | priisemos | foremost, first |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |