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primum mobile

[pree-moo m moh-bi-le; English prahy-muh m mob-uh-lee, pree-]
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noun Latin.
  1. (in Ptolemaic astronomy) the outermost of the 10 concentric spheres of the universe, making a complete revolution every 24 hours and causing all the others to do likewise.
  2. prime mover.
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Origin of primum mobile

literally, first moving (thing)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for primum mobile

primum mobile

noun
  1. a prime mover
  2. astronomy the outermost empty sphere in the Ptolemaic system that was thought to revolve around the earth from east to west in 24 hours carrying with it the inner spheres of the planets, sun, moon, and fixed stars
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Word Origin

C15: from Medieval Latin: first moving (thing)
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 primum mobile

n.

"the first source of motion," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin (11c.), literally "the first movable thing;" see prime (adj.) + mobile. A translation of Arabic al-muharrik al-awwal "the first moving" (Avicenna).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper