primordium

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prīmordium.

Noun

primordium (plural primordia)

  1. (anatomy) An aggregation of cells that is the first stage in the development of an organ.
    Synonyms: anlage, (obsolete) proton
  2. (history, theology) A primordial, original condition or event.
    • 1997 [1991], Alexandre Grandazzi, translated by Jane Marie Todd, The Foundation of Rome: Myth and History, →ISBN, page 33:
      It is thus vain to hope that the history of the primordia can be reduced to the progress of archeological investigation.
    • 2003, David Chidester, Salvation and Suicide: Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 106:
      Attempts have been made by historians of religion to distinguish between mythic orientations in time concerned with the repetition of a primordium and those concerned with the anticipation of an eschaton.
    • 2008, Richard L. Bushman, Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction, →ISBN, page 5:
      [Joseph Smith] did not think of himself as going back to a primordium of true Christianity, as the Puritans did. In his view, there never was a golden age when religion flourished to perfection.

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From prīmus + root of ōrdior + -ium.

Pronunciation

Noun

prīmōrdium n (genitive prīmōrdiī or prīmōrdī); second declension

  1. beginning, origin
    Synonyms: initium, prīncipium, exōrdium, orīgō, limen, rudīmentum
    Antonym: fīnis
  2. commencement

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative prīmōrdium prīmōrdia
Genitive prīmōrdiī
prīmōrdī1
prīmōrdiōrum
Dative prīmōrdiō prīmōrdiīs
Accusative prīmōrdium prīmōrdia
Ablative prīmōrdiō prīmōrdiīs
Vocative prīmōrdium prīmōrdia

1Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Catalan: primordi
  • Galician: primordio
  • Italian: primordio
  • Portuguese: primórdio
  • Spanish: primordio
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