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Origin and history of primeval

primeval(adj.)

also primaeval, "of or belonging to the first age," 1650s, with -al (1) + Latin primaevus "early in life, youthful," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)) + aevum "an age" (from PIE root *aiw- "vital force, life; long life, eternity"). Related: Primevally.

also from 1650s

Entries linking to primeval

prime(adj.)

late 14c., "first, original, first in order of time," from Old French prime and directly from Latin primus "first, the first, first part," figuratively "chief, principal; excellent, distinguished, noble" (source also of Italian and Spanish primo), from Proto-Italic *prismos, superlative of PIE *preis- "before," from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before, first, chief."

The meaning "of fine quality, of the first excellence" is from c. 1400. The meaning "first in rank, degree, or importance" is from 1610s in English. Arithmetical sense (as in prime number, one indivisible without a remainder except by 1) is from 1560s; prime meridian "the meridian of the earth from which longitude is measured, that of Greenwich, England," is from 1878. Prime time originally (c. 1500) meant "spring time;" the broadcasting sense of "peak tuning-in period" is attested by 1961.

*aiw-

also *ayu-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "vital force, life; long life, eternity."

It might form all or part of: age; aught (n.1) "something; anything;" aye (adv.) "always, ever;" Ayurvedic; coetaneous; coeval; each; eon; eternal; eternity; ever; every; ewigkeit; hygiene; longevity; medieval; nay; never; no; primeval; sempiternal; tarnation; utopia. 

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit ayu- "life;" Avestan aiiu "age, life(time);" Greek aiōn "age, vital force; a period of existence, a lifetime, a generation; a long space of time," in plural, "eternity;" Latin aevum "space of time, eternity;" Gothic aiws "age, eternity," Old Norse ævi "lifetime," German ewig "everlasting," Old English a "ever, always."

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aboriginal
1660s, "first, earliest, existing from the beginning," especially in reference to inhabitants of lands colonized by Europeans, from aborigines (see aborigine) + -al (1). The specific Australian sense is attested from 1820, with capital A-. The noun meaning "an original inhabitant
primal
c. 1600, "belonging to the earliest age or stage," from Medieval Latin primalis "primary," from Latin primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Psychological sense, in reference to Freud's theory of behaviors springing from the earliest stage of emotional development, is attested from 1
primordial
late 14c., "being or pertaining to the source or beginning," from Late Latin primordialis "first of all, original," from Latin primordium "a beginning, the beginning, origin, commencement," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)) + stem of ordiri "to begin" (see order (n.)). The s
Cyclops
of Uranus and Ge, who forged the thunderbolts of Zeus, Pluto's helmet, and Poseidon's trident, and were considered the primeval...
chaos
Greek for "disorder" was tarakhē, but the use of chaos here was rooted in Hesiod ("Theogony"), who describes khaos as the primeval...
primary
Primeval means of the flrst or earliest ages, and nothing else. [Century Dictionary] ...
lucus a non lucendo
Old High German loh 'clearing' and English lea 'open field, meadow, piece of untilled grassy ground.' " Apparently the primeval...
blunt
c. 1200, blunt, blont, "dull, obtuse" (of persons), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from or related to Old Norse blundra "to shut one's eyes" (see blunder (v.)). Or from Old English blinnan (past participle blon) "to stop, cease, come to an end." Of tools or weapons, "not sharp, wit
blight
1610s, "influence, usually hidden or inconspicuous, that nips, blasts, or destroys plants," a word of obscure origin; according to OED it emerged into literary speech from the talk of gardeners and farmers. It is perhaps from Old English blæce, blæcðu, a scrofulous skin condition
native
late 14c., natif, "natural, inborn, hereditary, connected with something in a natural way," from Old French natif "native, born in; raw, unspoiled" (14c.) and directly from Latin nativus "innate, produced by birth," from natus, past participle of nasci (Old Latin gnasci) "be born

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