Primordial

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Primordial \Pri*mor"di*al\, n.
     A first principle or element.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Primordial \Pri*mor"di*al\, a. [L. primordialis, from primordium
     the first beginning; primus first + ordiri to begin a web, to
     begin: cf. F. primordial.]
     1. First in order; primary; original; of earliest origin; as,
        primordial condition. "The primordial facts of our
        intelligent nature." --Sir W. Hamilton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the lowest beds of the
        Silurian age, corresponding to the Acadian and Potsdam
        periods in American geology. It is called also {Cambrian},
        and by many geologists is separated from the Silurian.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Biol.) Originally or earliest formed in the growth of an
        individual or organ; as, a primordial leaf; a primordial
        cell.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Primordial utricle} (Bot.), the interior lining of a young
        vegetable cell.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  primordial
       adj : having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or
             original stage or state; "aboriginal forests"; "primal
             eras before the appearance of life on earth"; "the
             forest primeval"; "primordial matter"; "primordial
             forms of life" [syn: {aboriginal}, {primal}, {primeval},
              {primaeval}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "primordial":
     aboriginal, ancestral, antepatriarchal, atavistic, autochthonous,
     basal, basic, central, crucial, elemental, elementary, embryonic,
     fundamental, generative, genetic, germinal, humanoid, in embryo,
     in ovo, original, patriarchal, preadamite, preglacial, pregnant,
     prehistoric, prehuman, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive,
     primogenial, primoprimitive, pristine, protogenic, protohistoric,
     protohuman, radical, rudimentary, seminal