English Explanatory Dictionary

primate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A mammal of the order Primates, comprising of apes (including humans), monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, lorisids, and galagos.
  2. An anthropoid; ape including human.
noun
  1. In the Catholic Church, a rare title conferred to or claimed by the sees of certain archbishops, or the highest-ranking bishop of a present or historical, usually political circumscription.
  2. In the Orthodox Church, the presiding bishop of an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or region. Usually, the expression primate refers to the first hierarch of an autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox church. Less often, it is used to refer to the ruling bishop of an archdiocese or diocese.
  3. In the Anglican Church, an archbishop, or the highest-ranking bishop of an ecclesiastic province.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɹaɪmeɪt/ En-us-primate.ogg en-au-primate.ogg /ˈpɹaɪmət/

Word forms

primate primates

Etymology

First attested in 1876. From French primate, from the substantivization of Latin prīmās, prīmātis (“one of the first, chief, excellent, noble”), same as Etymology 2. So named due to the belief that primates are the highest order of mammals or animals.

Synonyms

primate

Related words

:Category:Hominids :Category:Monkeys :Category:Prosimians primatial primus ultimate exarch patriarch

Derived words

euprimate nonprimate pan-primate primatal primatelike primatology primatophilic subprimate superprimate super-primate supraprimate abbot primate archprimate primate city Primate of All England Primate of England Primate of the Gauls primateship primatical prince-primate
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