primordial

CEFRB2

/pɹaɪˈmɔː.di.əl/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Existing from the very beginning of time.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Characteristic of the earliest stage of the development of an organism, or relating to a primordium.

Examples

  • Bennu is a primordial artifact preserved in the vacuum of space.

  • Our biological ancestors thrived in the primordial soup hundreds of millions of years ago.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3

Also pronounced

  • /pɹɑɪˈmoː.di.əl/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. First, earliest or original.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A first principle or element.

  2. A primordial condition or state.

More examples

In context

  • a primordial leaf; a primordial cell

  • As an archetypal image of primordial unity, the cosmic egg suggests that there is unity and fragmentation, eternity and time.

  • the primordial facts of our intelligent nature

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank soup is believed to have given rise to early life.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From the Latin prīmōrdiālis (“of the beginning”). Compare primordium and -al.