primo

[pree-moh; for 1, 2 also Italian pree-maw]

noun, plural pri·mos, pri·mi [pree-mee Italian pree-mee] /ˈpri mi Italian ˈpri mi/. Music.

the part of a piano duet played on the upper half of the keyboard.

the first or leading part in an ensemble.

adjective

Slang.

first-class: dinner at a primo restaurant.
highly valuable or most essential: the primo player on the team.

Origin of primo

1785–95; < Italian: literally, first < Latin prīmus. See prime

primus inter pares

[pree-moo s in-ter pah-res; English prahy-muh s in-ter pair-eez, pree-]

noun, plural pri·mi in·ter pa·res [pree-mee in-ter pah-res; English prahy-mee in-ter pair-eez pree-] /ˈpri mi ˈɪn tɛr ˈpɑ rɛs; English ˈpraɪ mi ˈɪn tər ˈpɛər iz ˈpri-/ Latin.

(of males) first among equals.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for primi

Historical Examples of primi

Formerly the kings were but lords of a superior rank, primi inter pares; and they were originally electiv.
A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv Writings
Noah Webster
Primi principi di una teoria sociologica della popolazione economicamente passiva.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology
Robert E. Park
Of course, in this sense, Quintus could only be numbered among the first class (primi amici).
Quintus Claudius, Volume 1 of 2
Ernst Eckstein
The young men who play the part of primi amorosi, are in debt or without money.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature
John Addington Symonds
Primi enim, qui naturas rerum considerare inceperunt, imaginationem transcendere non valentes, nihil prter corpora esse posuerunt.
Fundamental Philosophy, Vol. I (of 2)
Jaime Luciano Balmes

British Dictionary definitions for primi

primus inter pares

first among equals

primo

noun plural -mos or -mi (-mɪ)

music the upper or right-hand part in a piano duetCompare secondo

Also: primo tempo at the same speed as at the beginning of the piece

Word Origin for primo

Italian: first, from Latin prīmus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for primi

primo

1740, in music terms, from Italian primo "first, chief," from Latin primus (see prime (adj.)). As slang for "excellent, first-class," perhaps an elaboration of prime. Of drugs, by 1990s, street slang.