primo

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

See more synonyms for primo on Thesaurus.com

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

Origin of primo

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

loco primo citato

[loh-koh pree-moh ki-tah-toh; English loh-koh prahy-moh sahy-tey-toh, pree-moh si-tah-toh]

adverb Latin.

loc. primo cit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for primo

superior, great, dominant, impressive, exceptional, phenomenal, magnificent, eminent, well-known, famous, bad, important, superlative, distinguished, special, preeminent, noteworthy, curious, wonderful, odd

Examples from the Web for primo

Contemporary Examples of primo

But Klitschko is no Primo Carnera—the first giant heavyweight champion and an ersatz fighter who was set up by the mob.
Vitali Klitschko Contemplates Bowing Out of the Ring and Entering Ukrainian Politics
Gordon Marino
March 26, 2013
Primo was with his mother and her boyfriend that weekend, so I had left the city and driven up to join Eliza in Hudson.
Daddy, How Come You’re Always Broke? Benjamin Anastas’s ‘Too Good to Be True’
Benjamin Anastas
October 15, 2012
Stevie Wonder," says Hill, "and Earth, Wind, and Fire was the primo dance record.
My Celebrity College Roommate
Kathleen Kingsbury, Jaimie Etkin
August 30, 2009

Historical Examples of primo

What matters it, then, if ours is called the Fourth Class and theirs the Primo.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Primo de Rivero then explained his position, which was curious.
Romantic Spain
John Augustus O'Shea
The primo sargentos were abolished, the officers reinstated.
Spanish Life in Town and Country
L. Higgin and Eugne E. Street
Primo, let us make sure she is a witch—secundo, let us take her to the Abbey.
The Lancashire Witches
William Harrison Ainsworth
Why should she think of me—or of anybody else, except the primo tenore, who was singing with her?
A Siren
Thomas Adolphus Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for primo

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 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.