primordial

Forms

primordial (feminine primordiale, masculine plural primordiaux, feminine plural primordiales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin prīmōrdiālis (“primitive, original”), a word of Christian Late Latin, first recorded at the end of the 14th century.^[2][3] The Latin adjective is derived from Latin prīmōrdium (“beginning, origin”), used mostly in the plural prīmōrdia (“beginnings, principles, elements”), which is compounded of prīmus (“first”) and an element from ōrdior (“to begin”), the source of ourdir.^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert, the GLLF and the Petit Robert date the borrowing to 1480.^{[5][6][4][7][8]}

Littré compares Occitan primordial, Spanish primordial and Italian primordiale.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in a late 14th-century glossary, where primordial matiere glosses Greek hylē, “primordial matter”: matter that has existed from the beginning.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In French the word kept its etymological sense, “the oldest, serving as the origin”, in competition with originel and primitif, and mostly in learned use: in law, in botany for the first leaves of a plant (feuilles primordiales, 1813), and formerly in geology.^[3][2][9] Bloch and Wartburg note that it was rare before the 17th century.^[5]

As the sense of time faded behind that of rank, it came to mean “of the first importance, essential” (1814, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre); some philosophers condemned this use, but it spread into everyday French.^[3][2] The GLLF dates this sense to the 16th century.^[4]

Timeline

• Late 14th century – Primordial matiere appears in a glossary.^[2][3]
• 1480 – Recorded in the Baratre infernal.^[4][5][6]
• 1567 – The adverb primordialement is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1813 – Candolle writes of feuilles primordiales in botany.^[2][3]
• 1814 – Bernardin de Saint-Pierre uses it for “of the first importance”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Oldest, existing from the origin, primordial, original: la matière primordiale.^[7][2][4]
2. Of the first importance, essential, paramount: Leur soutien a été primordial. Also impersonal, il est primordial de with an infinitive.^[7][10][1]
3. (botany) Feuilles primordiales: the first leaves of a plant, already present in the plumule.^[4][9]
4. (geology, dated) Terrains primordiaux: formations of plutonic rock.^[9]

Word family

• primordialement

Related words

• ourdir
• premier
• Latin prīmōrdium

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 381a
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)