primo

See also: Primo, primó, and přímo

Languages (18)

English

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Cebuano • Chavacano • Dutch • Esperanto • French • Galician • Hiligaynon • Italian • Ladino • Latin • Lombard • Old Galician-Portuguese • Old Spanish • Portuguese • Romanian • Spanish • Tagalog

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Page categories

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian primo (“first”). Doublet of prime and primus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiː.moʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːmoʊ

Noun

primo (plural primos)

1. (music) The principal part of a duet.

   Coordinate term: secundo

2. (slang, drugs) Any high-quality drug.
3. (slang, drugs) A marijuana cigarette that has been laced with cocaine or heroin.

Adjective

primo (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Best; first-class.
   • 2010, Marie Kanger-Born, Confessions of a Chicago Punk Bystander, page 16:

     We strung Christmas lights around the ceiling to frame it. The final touches of coolness were my two spinning disco lights in the front room. That apartment was like my canvas and it was a primo party spot.

   • 2014 January 30, Seth Kugel, “Wintertime Bargains in Budapest”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     I had to contort a bit to see during Act I, but the theater was not full — opera tickets, even at such prices, are a luxury for many Hungarians — so during the first intermission I moved to a primo orchestra seat, with not just the knowledge but the assistance of an usher.

   • 2025 June 13, Marina Hyde, “So social media has broken even Elon Musk. I’m forced to ask: U OK hun?”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Like me, you will be so embarrassed for Earth’s primo edgelord that he feels pressed into doing something so excruciatingly conventional. This is worse than when Kate Moss was scapegoated into rehab.

Translations

Translations

• Spanish: polenta (es), principal (es), más importante

Related terms

• primo uomo

Anagrams

• impro

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish primo, from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pri‧mo

Noun

primo

1. (dated) male first cousin; male full cousin

   Synonym: igtagsa

Related terms

• ig-agaw

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish primo (“cousin”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pri‧mo

Noun

primo

1. cousin (of male or unspecified gender)

   Coordinate term: prima

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpri.moː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pri‧mo
• Rhymes: -imoː

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin prīmō.

Adverb

primo

1. firstly

   Synonym: ten eerste

   Coordinate term: secundo

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of Latin prīmō diē (“first day”).

Preposition

primo

1. (obsolete) the first day of

   Coordinate term: medio

   primo januari ― the first day of January

References

• Matthias de Vries; Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864), “primo”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001
• Matthias de Vries; Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864), “primo”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈprimo/
• Rhymes: -imo
• Syllabification: pri‧mo

Noun

primo (accusative singular primon, plural primoj, accusative plural primojn)

1. (mathematics) prime number

Further reading

• “primo”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “primo”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁi.mo/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adverb

primo

1. first (before anything else)

   Synonym: premièrement

Further reading

• “primo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese primo, from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus.

Noun

primo m (plural primos, feminine prima, feminine plural primas)

1. male cousin

   Synonym: curmán

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-der.

Proto-Italic *pri

Proto-Indo-European *-yōs

Proto-Indo-European *-(t)m̥mos

Proto-Indo-European *-is(t)m̥mós

Proto-Italic *-isəmos

Proto-Italic *prīzmos

Latin prīmus

Galician primo

Inherited from Latin prīmus.

Adjective

primo (feminine prima, masculine plural primos, feminine plural primas)

1. first
2. (mathematics) prime

Synonyms

• (prime): número primo

Noun

primo m (plural primos)

1. (mathematics) prime number

Synonyms

• número primo

Verb

primo

1. first-person singular present indicative of primar

Hiligaynon

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish primo, from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾimo/ [ˈpɾi.mo]
• Hyphenation: pri‧mo

Noun

primo (feminine prima)

1. male cousin (of any degree of cousinhood)

Hypernyms

• pakaduha (“second cousin”)
• pakaisa (“first cousin”)

Italian

Italian numbers ^(edit)

		10
	←  0	1	2  →	10  →
Cardinal: uno, un     Ordinal: primo     Ordinal abbreviation: 1º     Adverbial: una volta     Multiplier: singolo     Distributive: singolarmente     Fractional: intero
Italian Wikipedia article on 1

Alternative forms

• 1º m, 1ª f (abbreviation, in general)
• I (abbreviation, in names of monarchs and popes)

Etymology

From Latin prīmus, from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpri.mo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -imo
• Hyphenation: prì‧mo

Adjective

primo (feminine prima, masculine plural primi, feminine plural prime, superlative primissimo)

1. (ordinal number) first
2. initial
3. main, principal
4. (mathematics) prime

   numero primo ― prime number

Derived terms

• primamente
• primissimo (“very first”)

Noun

primo m (plural primi, feminine prima)

1. first, first one
2. former (first of aforementioned two items)

Related terms

• in primo luogo
• materia prima
• numero primo
• primario
• primate
• primato
• primattore
• primavera
• primeggiare
• primitivo
• primizia
• primogenito
• primordiale
• primordio
• primula

Descendants

• → English: primo

Noun

primo m (plural primi)

1. (cooking) clipping of primo piatto; first course, starter

   Coordinate term: secondo

Anagrams

• pormi, rompi

Ladino

Pronunciation

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish primo (“cousin”), from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus.

Noun

primo m (Hebrew spelling פרימו)

1. cousin (of male or unspecified gender)
   • 1940, La boz de Türkiye‎^[3], numbers 11–34, page 407:

     Nacido en 1877, nieto del conde Henri d'Avigdor, amigo intimo de Napoleon III, Sir Osmond ajusto a su nombre, aquel de Goldsmid, a la muerte de su primo Sir Julien Goldsmid, donde el era el heredador.

     Born in 1877, grandson to Henri d’Avigdor, close friend of Napoleon III, Sir Osmond added Goldsmid to his name on the death of his cousin Sir Julien Goldsmid, where he was the heir.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Spanish primo (“first”), from Latin prīmus, from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Adjective

primo (Hebrew spelling פרימו)

1. first
   • 1940, La boz de Türkiye‎^[4], numbers 11–34, page 247:

     El primo districto administrativo judio sera establecido cercamente en Natania onde seran transferados todos los servicios publicos que fin ahora se topavan en Tolcarim.

     The first administrative Jewish district shall soon be established in Natania, where all of the public services shall be transferred that up until now were located in Tolcarim.

2. excellent (pretty good)

   Synonym: ekselente

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

primo

1. first-person singular present indicative of premir
2. first-person singular present indicative of primar

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpriː.moː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpriː.mo]

Etymology 1

Adjective

prīmō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of prīmus

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-der.

Proto-Italic *pri

Proto-Indo-European *-yōs

Proto-Indo-European *-(t)m̥mos

Proto-Indo-European *-is(t)m̥mós

Proto-Italic *-isəmos

Proto-Italic *prīzmos

Latin prīmus

Proto-Indo-European *-éad

Proto-Italic *-ōd

Latin -ō

Latin prīmō

From prīmus (“first”) + -ō.

Alternative forms

• prīmum

Adverb

prīmō (superlative, positive prae, comparative prius, adjective prīmus)

1. first; firstly; first of all; first up; at first; before all else

References

• “primo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “primo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “primo”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[5], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) at the first opportunity: primo quoque tempore
    
  • (ambiguous) at the beginning of spring: ineunte, primo vere
    

Lombard

Etymology

From Latin prīmus.

Adjective

primo m (feminine prima)

1. (Old Lombard) the first

Old Galician-Portuguese

Old Galician-Portuguese numbers ^(edit)

		10[a], [b]
		1	2  →	10  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: ũu     Ordinal: primeiro, primo

Adjective

primo m (feminine prima)

1. (ordinal number) first (first up)

   Synonym: primeiro

Noun

primo m

1. cousin

Descendants

• Galician: primo
• Portuguese: primo

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “primo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Spanish

Adjective

primo m (feminine prima)

1. (ordinal number) first (first up)

   Synonym: primero

2. prime (excellent)
3. extreme (excessive)

Noun

primo m (plural primos)

1. cousin

Descendants

• Ladino: primo, פרימו
• Spanish: primo

References

• Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946), “primo”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 409

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾĩ.mu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾĩ.mu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾi.mo/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾi.mu/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pri‧mo

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese primo, from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus.

Noun

primo m (plural primos, feminine prima, feminine plural primas)

1. male cousin (son of a person’s uncle or aunt)

Descendants

• → Hunsrik: Prim

Etymology 2

From Latin prīmus, from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos.

Noun

primo m (plural primos)

1. prime (number)

Etymology 3

Verb

primo

1. first-person singular present indicative of premir

Further reading

• “primo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “primo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian primo or French primo.

Adverb

primo

1. firstly, first

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾimo/ [ˈpɾi.mo]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -imo
• Syllabification: pri‧mo

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus (“first (cousin)”).

Noun

primo m (plural primos, feminine prima, feminine plural primas)

1. cousin (of male or unspecified gender)
2. (slang, Spain, chiefly masculine) cuz, man, bro, homie

   ¿Quieres problemas, primo?

   You want beef, cuz?

Hyponyms

• primo cruzado
• primo cuarto
• primo hermano
• primo quinto
• primo segundo
• primo tercero

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin prīmus (“first”), from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos (“foremost”, superlative of pri, "before, in front").

Adjective

primo (feminine prima, masculine plural primos, feminine plural primas)

1. first

   Synonym: primero

2. (mathematics) prime
   • 2002, Martin Gardner (translation by Luis Bou García), Huevos, nudos y otras mistificaciones matemáticas, page 207:

     Todos ellos son impares, excepto el 2, que es reputado como «el más primo» de todos los primos

     All of them are odd numbers, except for 2, which is considered "the primest" of all prime numbers.

Derived terms

• materia prima
• número primo

Noun

primo m (plural primos)

1. (mathematics) prime number

   Synonym: número primo

Noun

primo m (plural primos)

1. (colloquial) sucker, gullible person

   Synonym: pardillo

Derived terms

• hacer el primo
• primada
• primazo

Verb

primo

1. first-person singular present indicative of premir
2. first-person singular present indicative of primar

Further reading

• “primo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “primo”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish primo, from Latin (cōnsobrīnus) prīmus.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾimo/ [ˈpɾiː.mo]
• Rhymes: -imo
• Syllabification: pri‧mo

Noun

primo (Baybayin spelling ᜉ᜔ᜇᜒᜋᜓ) (archaic)

1. cousin

   Synonym: pinsan

2. friend

   Synonym: kaibigan

Further reading

• “primo”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018