Middle English Dictionary Entry
prīmārī(e adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | prīmārī(e adj. |
| Etymology | L prīmārius |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Original, earliest or most basic; ~ cause [see cause n. 1c.]; (b) ~ qualite, one of the four primary qualities: heat, coldness, wetness, dryness.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)155a/b : Þe primary cause or þe first infloweþ more þan þe secundary cause.
- (1442) Visit.Alnwick51 : We..have founde many and dyverse thynges among yowe agayn your prymary institucyone, rewle, and obseruaunces regulere.
b
- a1550 *Ripley CAlch.(BodeMus 63)59a : Fyrst thow them putrefye, her primarye quallytes destroiyng vtterlye.