prime number

noun

, Mathematics.

1. a positive integer that is not divisible without remainder by any integer except itself and 1, with 1 often excluded:

   The integers 2, 3, 5, and 7 are prime numbers.

prime number

noun

1. an integer that cannot be factorized into other integers but is only divisible by itself or 1, such as 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11 Sometimes shortened toprime Compare composite number

prime number

1. A positive integer greater than 1 that can only be divided by itself and 1 without leaving a remainder. Examples of prime numbers are 7, 23, and 67.
2. Compare composite number

prime number

1. A number that cannot be divided evenly by any other number except itself and the number one; 1, 3, 5, 7, and 11 are prime numbers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of prime number¹

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

“It’s like an entire alien species living underneath our feet and then some prime number years they come out to say hello.”

From Seattle Times

Do they become rarer with increasing size, like the prime numbers, or do they always appear with about the same frequency?

From Scientific American

She looked intrigued, which was new, because Katie usually walks around with this distracted expression on her face, like she’s busy figuring the square root of the prime number closest to the gross national product.

From Literature

Such a change might have been intended to prevent the model from sharing undesirable information but inadvertently ended up reducing the AI’s chattiness on the topic of prime numbers.

From Scientific American

As is common in number theory, the conjecture deals with prime numbers that exactly divide a given number—what mathematicians call prime divisors.

From Scientific American