primordial

[ prahy-mawr-dee-uhl ]

adjective

1. constituting a beginning; giving origin to something derived or developed; original; elementary:

   primordial forms of life.

2. Embryology. first formed.
3. pertaining to or existing at or from the very beginning:

   primordial matter.

primordial

/ praɪˈmɔːdɪəl /

adjective

1. existing at or from the beginning; earliest; primeval
2. constituting an origin; fundamental
3. biology of or relating to an early stage of development

   primordial germ cells

noun

1. an elementary or basic principle

Derived Forms

• priˈmordially, adverb
• priˌmordiˈality, noun

Other Words From

• pri·mor·di·al·i·ty [prahy-mawr-dee-, al, -i-tee], noun
• pri·mordi·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of primordial¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin prīmōrdiālis of the beginning. See primordium, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of primordial¹

C14: from Late Latin prīmōrdiālis original, from Latin prīmus first + ōrdīrī to begin

Example Sentences

The diagnosis connected the primordial dwarfism, the development delays and what was happening in her blood.

From BBC

The researchers simulated what might happen if one of these primordial black holes made a flyby within the orbit of Jupiter.

From Los Angeles Times

An artificial breeze gently wafts from an oscillating fan positioned nearby, while a gathering storm of thoughts erupts from the high technology of projected video light, crackling and popping in a primordial stew.

From Los Angeles Times

Now, MIT physicists have found that this primordial process also would have produced some unexpected companions: even smaller black holes with unprecedented amounts of a nuclear-physics property known as "color charge."

From Science Daily

The fern, known as Tmesipteris oblanceolate, belongs to a primordial group of plants that evolved long before the dinosaurs set foot on the earth.

From BBC

Related Words

• prehistoric
• primal
• primeval
• primitive
• pristine