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