primate Hear it!

primate definition

pri·mate (prī′māt′, -mit; for 2, usually, -mit)

noun

  1. Rare a person with primacy
  2. an archbishop, or the highest-ranking bishop in a province, etc.
  3. any of an order (Primates) of mammals characterized esp. by flexible hands and feet, each with five digits, including humans, great apes, monkeys, and lemurs

Etymology: ME primat < OFr < LL primas (gen. primatis), of the first, chief < L primus, first: see prime

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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