primordial

4 definitions found

primordial - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Primordial \Pri*mor"di*al\, n.
     A first principle or element.
     [1913 Webster]

  Primordial \Pri*mor"di*al\, a. [L. primordialis, from primordium
     the first beginning; primus first + ordiri to begin a web, to
     begin: cf. F. primordial.]
     1. First in order; primary; original; of earliest origin; as,
        primordial condition. "The primordial facts of our
        intelligent nature." --Sir W. Hamilton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the lowest beds of the
        Silurian age, corresponding to the Acadian and Potsdam
        periods in American geology. It is called also Cambrian,
        and by many geologists is separated from the Silurian.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Biol.) Originally or earliest formed in the growth of an
        individual or organ; as, a primordial leaf; a primordial
        cell.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Primordial utricle (Bot.), the interior lining of a young
        vegetable cell.
        [1913 Webster]

primordial - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  primordial
      adj 1: having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or
             original stage or state; "aboriginal forests"; "primal
             eras before the appearance of life on earth"; "the forest
             primeval"; "primordial matter"; "primordial forms of
             life" [syn: aboriginal, primal, primeval,
             primaeval, primordial]

primordial - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "primordial":
     aboriginal, ancestral, antepatriarchal, atavistic, autochthonous,
     basal, basic, central, crucial, elemental, elementary, embryonic,
     fundamental, generative, genetic, germinal, humanoid, in embryo,
     in ovo, original, patriarchal, preadamite, preglacial, pregnant,
     prehistoric, prehuman, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive,
     primogenial, primoprimitive, pristine, protogenic, protohistoric,
     protohuman, radical, rudimentary, seminal