primum mobile
Americannoun
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(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.
noun
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a prime mover
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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
Etymology
Origin of primum mobile
Literally, “first moving (thing)”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There was no doubt whatever that Judge McCamant was the primum mobile of the chain of accidents which made our present President.
From Time Magazine Archive
The innermost was the central and unmoving earth; outward from the earth were the spheres of the moon, of the five known planets, of the sun and the zodiac, and finally the primum mobile.
From Time Magazine Archive
Seraphs, the most powerful angels, kept the primum mobile moving; cherubs moved the zodiac, thrones the sphere of Saturn, and so on down to the moon, which fell under the care of common angels.
From Time Magazine Archive
That is the reason why both ancient and modern mathematicians, aside from the motion of the primum mobile, were forced to admit and consider the peculiar movements of the planets themselves.
From The gradual acceptance of the Copernican theory of the universe by Stimson, Dorothy
The Vice-Chancellor was the primum mobile of this great affair: Grotius was subordinate to him, and did him great service by the instructions which he sent him.
From The Life of the Truly Eminent and Learned Hugo Grotius Containing a Copious and Circumstantial History of the Several Important and Honourable Negotiations in Which He Was Employed; together with a Critical Account of His Works by Burigny, Jean Lévesque de
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.
