‖a. [ It. ] (Mus.) First; chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Primigenial. ] First born, made, or generated; original; primary; elemental; as, primogenial light. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Primogeniture. ] Of or pertaining to primogeniture. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Primogeniture. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The primogenitive and due of birth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL., fr. L. primus first + genitor a begetter. ] The first ancestor; a forefather. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL., fr. L. primus first + genitura a begetting, birth, generation, fr. genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. primogéniture, L. primogenitus firstborn. See Prime, a., and Genus, Kin. ] 1. The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eng. Law) The exclusive right of inheritance which belongs to the eldest son. Thus in England the right of inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or privileges of the firstborn. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. primordialis, from primordium the first beginning; primus first + ordiri to begin a web, to begin: cf. F. primordial. ] 1. First in order; primary; original; of earliest origin; as, primordial condition. “The primordial facts of our intelligent nature.” Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the lowest beds of the Silurian age, corresponding to the Acadian and Potsdam periods in American geology. It is called also Cambrian, and by many geologists is separated from the Silurian. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Biol.) Originally or earliest formed in the growth of an individual or organ; as, a primordial leaf; a primordial cell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Primordial utricle (Bot.), the interior lining of a young vegetable cell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A first principle or element. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Devotion to, or persistence in, conditions of the primordial state. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]