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• Primates
  Primates

  noun

  the order comprising the primates.
• primates
  primates

  The order of mammals that includes monkeys, apes, and human beings. Primates are distinguished from other animals in that they generally possess limbs capable of performing a variety of functions, hands and feet adapted for grasping (including opposable thumbs), flattened snouts, and other anatomical features. (See Linnean classification.)

Primates

American  

[prahy-may-teez] / praɪˈmeɪ tiz /

noun

1. the order comprising the primates.

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primates Cultural  

1. The order of mammals that includes monkeys, apes, and human beings. Primates are distinguished from other animals in that they generally possess limbs capable of performing a variety of functions, hands and feet adapted for grasping (including opposable thumbs), flattened snouts, and other anatomical features. (See Linnean classification.)

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Etymology

Origin of Primates

1765–75; < New Latin, plural of Latin prīmās one of the first, chief, principal. See primate

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Primates primates

Primates were already around by the time the asteroid struck, in a Northern Hemisphere spring 66 million years ago.

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2024

"Primates have particular welfare needs that cannot be met by keeping them as a household pet and this legislation seeks to end this practice."

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2024

Primates aren’t the only exotic animals popular here.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

Primates are generally found to be upset by large groups of noisy visitors, and primates with smaller body sizes similarly tended to be more human-averse than larger primates.

From Salon ● May 26, 2023

The C.D.C. also temporarily revoked the licenses of three companies, Hazleton Research Products, the Charles River Primates Corporation, and Worldwide Primates, charging these companies with violations of quarantine rules.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

The trust said the primates required "stress-free environments and specialist care".

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

While AI can generate candidate molecules and assist in trial design, it cannot test drugs on non-human primates or accelerate the biological timeline required for human observation.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

The results were particularly encouraging in nonhuman primates, whose liver biology and gut microbial communities more closely resemble those of humans than those of mice.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

But here’s your daily reminder that humans are primates whose still-evolving brains are exponentially outpaced by technological advancement.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026

More important, a specific part of the brain of humans and other primates — the region known as the neocortex, which deals with complex thought and reasoning — is huge by mammal standards.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

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