1855–60; < Medieval Latin prīmus, noun use of Latin adj.; see prime
1790–1800; < Latin prīmus; see prime
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When the prime minister addresses the cabinet, not far away in 10 Downing Street, he is primus inter pares, first among equals, sitting among his or her ministers.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
The Nationalist military chieftains who elevated Francisco Franco to supreme power may initially have thought of their leader as a sort of primus inter pares, but this notion did not accord with Franco’s ideas.
From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2017
The invitation looks like a mistaken act of over-compensation, an effort to make sure the UK, an early backmarker, reverted to its traditional position of primus inter pares, the Special One.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2017
He was acknowledged to be the primus inter pares of the Italian composers of the day.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2010
From somewhere in the depths of the car our mother unearths a primus stove, which she sets up on the kitchen floor, since there is no table.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Primus is the only member of the new commission from outside of California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
“They can’t make up for the loss of 7,000 staff with this method,” said Wendell Primus, visiting fellow at the Center on Health Policy at the Brookings Institution, an independent think tank.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 20, 2026
Afterwards four bishops - including the Primus, the Most Reverend Mark Strange - asked Bishop Dyer to consider if she was still the right person to lead the diocese.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
The contemporary, Earthly versions of the characters, played by Betty Buckley and Barry Primus at the start of their film, bicker on their way to their daughter’s gender reveal party.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2025
They would take the Primus camp stove and three days of fuel.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
