primordial

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   First, earliest or original.

   • the primordial facts of our intelligent nature
   • As an archetypal image of primordial unity, the cosmic egg suggests that there is unity and fragmentation, eternity and time.
2. 2

   Characteristic of the earliest stage of the development of an organism, or relating to a…

   Characteristic of the earliest stage of the development of an organism, or relating to a primordium.

   • a primordial leaf; a primordial cell
3. 3

   Primeval.

4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Of an element or isotope

      Of an element or isotope: occurring primordially (on Earth) (i.e. inherited from when the Earth was formed); because it is stable, or radioactive but so long-lived that some is left over from when the Earth was formed. For example, primordial radioisotopes (T = half-life in years) include uranium-235 (T = 7×10⁸), potassium-40 (T = 1.25×10⁹), uranium-238 (T = 4.5×10⁹), and thorium-232 (T = 1.4×10¹⁰).

   2. 5

      A first principle or element.

   3. 6

      A primordial condition or state.

The neighborhood

• neighborexord
• neighborexordium
• neighborprimordium