imprimis Latin · revision 32797

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius|origins=itc-pro *prī̆-isamo-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''imprīmīs''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''inprīmīs'' and is often written as two words, ''in prīmīs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in|prīmus|t1=in|t2=first]], originally the phrase ⟨in prīmīs⟩ with the ablative plural of the adjective.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan explains [[m|la|prīmus]] as a superlative, [[itc-pro|*prī̆-isamo-|t=first]], built on an adverb meaning “before” that he traces to [[ine-pro|*pr(e)i|t=before]], though he calls its Indo-European ancestry uncertain; he compares [[pgn|prismu]], a feminine first name, and [[grc|πρίν|tr=prín|t=before]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first quotation in the OLD is in Lucilius, who writes of something he understands the addressee wants above all to obtain.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates it from Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means more than any other, especially, above all.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995) It often introduces the chief member of a group, as when Cicero asks Atticus to write him everything, and above all whether the courts are in trouble.^(OLD 2012) It also marks the first item in a series or the first stage of a process, “first, to begin with”: Cicero writes that one must either keep to the order of events or tell the most recent first.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it first of all, chiefly, especially.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, “above all”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the chief point of a request and of the first item in an order.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Above all, [[m|en|especially]], in particular.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # First, to begin with, [[m|en|firstly]].^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[primus|alt=prīmus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}