prima

Forms

prima (adverb, invariable; as a noun feminine, plural prime)^[2][1] Old forms include Old Italian imprima and the adverb Old Italian primamente.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin prīma, the feminine ablative of Latin prīmus (“first”) used as an adverb.^[4][5][6][2] Classical Latin said prīmum or prīmō in this sense;^[7] Devoto and Gabrielli think the Late Latin form took its ending from posteā (“afterwards”), its opposite.^[8][9]

As a noun (the first class, the opening night, the first gear), the word is the feminine of primo used as a noun, with a feminine noun such as classe, rappresentazione or ora understood.^[4][5][2] As the first canonical hour it continues Late Latin prīma of the Church with hōra understood.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the adverb, “earlier, before”, is in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, a statute from the Tuscan mining town of Montieri.^[11][2] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it to the first half of the 13th century.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The spatial sense “in front, at a point that comes before” is in Dante, before 1321.^[11] Old Italian also used prima for “for the first time”, as in Petrarch's line “ricorro al tempo ch'i' vi vidi prima” (I go back to the time I first saw you), a sense now literary.^[2][12] Phrases such as prima che “before” and prima o poi “sooner or later” are fixed early, and the sense “sooner, more quickly” (fare prima) is recorded only in 1965.^[11][5]

The noun had religious and technical senses first: the canonical hour of prime at sunrise (in Tommaseo, DELI dates it to 1691), a fencing position (1895) and the musical interval of a unison.^[11][13] The opening night of a play is recorded in a Milanese newspaper in 1814, the first gear and the first ascent of a climbing route in 1958.^[11] German, Dutch and Norwegian took prima as an adjective “first-rate, excellent”, recorded in German commerce from 1836.^[1][14]

Timeline

• 1219 – The adverb is recorded in the Breve di Montieri.^[11]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses prima in a spatial sense.^[11]
• 1691 – The Crusca dictionary records prima as a canonical hour.^[11]
• 1814 – Prima “opening night” in a Milanese newspaper.^[11]
• 1836 – German prima “first-rate” is recorded in commerce.^[14]
• 1895 – Prima as a fencing position.^[11]
• 1958 – Prima as first gear and as a first ascent.^[11]
• 1965 – The sense “sooner, more quickly” is recorded.^[11]

Meanings

Adverb

1. before, earlier, at an earlier time: me l'avevi già detto prima; also as a term of comparison: lavora meno di prima.^[2][5][6]
2. first, in correlation with poi or dopo: prima mangiamo, poi parliamo.^[2][5][12]
3. Sooner, more quickly: in bici si arriva prima.^[6][12][9]
4. At a point that comes before in space: la farmacia è cento metri prima.^[2][12][9]
5. In the first place, firstly: prima perché è tardi, poi perché piove.^[2][12]
6. prima di (preposition), prima che (conjunction): before: prima di cena, prima che arrivino gli ospiti.^[5][2][15]

Noun

1. The first year of a school course: mia figlia fa la prima media.^[2][5][6]
2. First class on a train, plane and the like: un biglietto di prima.^[2][5][6]
3. First gear: metti la prima e parti piano.^[2][5][9]
4. The first performance of a play or opera, or the first showing of a film; premiere.^[2][6][15]
5. (religion) prime, the canonical hour at sunrise.^[2][5][6]
6. (sport) A basic position in fencing, gymnastics and classical dance; in climbing, the first ascent of a route.^[2][5][6]
7. (music) The interval between two notes of the same name in the same octave.^[2][6][13]

Word family

• anteprima
• dapprima
• primina

Related words

• primadonna
• primo
• poi
• dopo
• Latin prīmus

Usage notes

Common phrases are prima o poi (sooner or later), quanto prima (as soon as possible), prima di tutto (first of all) and amici come prima (friends as before).^[5][12][15] In football di prima means hitting the ball first time, before it touches the ground.^[5][9]

A separate prima “premium, bonus; insurance premium” (recorded in 1829 and 1839) is an adaptation of French prime, itself from English premium.^[16][13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 804
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 345
9. ^ a b c d e Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3078
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3079