prima Italian · revision 37543

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1219, Breve di Montieri|origins=la prīmus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpri.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''prima''' (adverb, invariable; as a noun feminine, plural ''prime'')^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|imprima]] and the adverb [[roa-oit|primamente]].^(Prati 1951|804)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|prīma]], the feminine ablative of [[la|prīmus|t=first]] used as an adverb.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) Classical Latin said [[m|la|prīmum]] or [[m|la|prīmō]] in this sense;^(DEI) Devoto and Gabrielli think the Late Latin form took its ending from [[m|la|posteā|t=afterwards]], its opposite.^(Devoto 1968|345)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ 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.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) As the first canonical hour it continues [[la-lat|prīma]] of the Church with [[m|la|hōra]] understood.^(DEI|3078)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it to the first half of the 13th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spatial sense “in front, at a point that comes before” is in Dante, before 1321.^(DELI 1999) 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.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) 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.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ 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.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) 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.^(DELI 1999) German, Dutch and Norwegian took ''prima'' as an adjective “first-rate, excellent”, recorded in German commerce from 1836.^(Wiktionary)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – The adverb is recorded in the Breve di Montieri.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''prima'' in a spatial sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1691 – The Crusca dictionary records ''prima'' as a canonical hour.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1814 – ''Prima'' “opening night” in a Milanese newspaper.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1836 – German ''prima'' “first-rate” is recorded in commerce.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1895 – ''Prima'' as a fencing position.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1958 – ''Prima'' as first gear and as a first ascent.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1965 – The sense “sooner, more quickly” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|before]], [[m|en|earlier]], at an earlier time: ''me l'avevi già detto prima''; also as a term of comparison: ''lavora meno di prima''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|first]], in correlation with ''poi'' or ''dopo'': ''prima mangiamo, poi parliamo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Sooner, more quickly: ''in bici si arriva prima''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # At a point that comes before in space: ''la farmacia è cento metri prima''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # In the first place, firstly: ''prima perché è tardi, poi perché piove''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''prima di'' (preposition), ''prima che'' (conjunction): before: ''prima di cena'', ''prima che arrivino gli ospiti''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The first year of a school course: ''mia figlia fa la prima media''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # First class on a train, plane and the like: ''un biglietto di prima''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # First [[m|en|gear]]: ''metti la prima e parti piano''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # The first performance of a play or opera, or the first showing of a film; [[m|en|premiere]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(religion)'' [[m|en|prime]], the canonical hour at sunrise.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sport)'' A basic position in fencing, gymnastics and classical dance; in climbing, the first ascent of a route.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' The interval between two notes of the same name in the same octave.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[anteprima]]

+ * [[dapprima]]

+ * [[primina]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[primadonna]]

+ * [[primo]]

+ * [[poi]]

+ * [[dopo]]

+ * [[la|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).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) In football ''di prima'' means hitting the ball first time, before it touches the ground.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ A separate ''prima'' “premium, bonus; insurance premium” (recorded in 1829 and 1839) is an adaptation of French ''prime'', itself from English ''premium''.^(DEI|3079)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}