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

primate Related Forms

pri′·mate·ship′ noun pri·ma′·tial (-mā′s̸həl) adjective

primate Synonyms

primate

n.

  1. Order of mammals

    gorilla, chimpanzee, orangutan, gibbon, great ape, cercopithecoid, anthropoid, hominoid, brachiator; see also hominid, man 1.

  2. Archbishop

    cardinal, metropolitan, suffragan, patriarch; see pope, priest.

primate Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • rescue: Letter from the Editor Over the past few months Jim and I have been very busy rescuing more primates.
  • modify: It is unlikely that genetically modifying primates would ever provide that one vital difference between a treatment and none.
  • keep: Keeping primates as pets poses health risks to people.
  • include: Has been done in experimental animals, including primates.

Preposition: as

pet: Keeping primates as pets poses health risks to people.

Adjective modifier

  • wild-caught: Eventually the campaign intends to focus on countries that provide animals, initially focussing on wild-caught primates.
  • endangered: Nearly 45 % of the world's most endangered primates live in Asia.
  • captive: Attending to the social environment of captive primates is fundamental to their welfare.
  • pet: IFAW researchers discovered how easy it is to obtain a pet primate in the UK.
  • African: Cowlishaw G & Hacker JE ( 1997 ) Distribution, diversity and latitude in African primates.
  • wild: However, this stock needs to be replenished, and wild primates are still being caught for the vivisection business.

Modifies a noun

  • vivisection: The nightmare scenario of Cambridge becoming the primate vivisection capital of Europe had ended.
  • lab: He spoke out in favor of building the largest primate research center in Europe at the Cambridge primate lab inquiry in 2002/03.
  • experimentation: However, a majority of the British public are opposed to primate experimentation.
  • sub-committee: Item 11: Primates sub-committee report 3.7 This was a later agenda item.
  • lineage: Determining the evolutionary changes in MCPH genes through the primate lineages to lower mammals.
  • sanctuary: Oliver is still alive today - the original story took place in the 1970s - in a primate sanctuary in the USA.

Noun used with modifier

  • non-human: He is a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences inquiry into the use of non-human primates in research.
  • nonhuman: Use to help you find references in all areas of nonhuman primate research.

Preposition: in

experiment: In 2002, MEPs voted in favor of a complete review of the use of all primates in experiments.