PRIMORDIAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does primordial mean? 

• PRIMORDIAL (adjective)
  The adjective PRIMORDIAL has 1 sense:

1. having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state

  Familiarity information: PRIMORDIAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRIMORDIAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state

Synonyms:

aboriginal; primaeval; primal; primeval; primordial

Context example:

primordial forms of life

Similar:

early (at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time)

 Context examples 

Such large molecules can be created by complex chemical processes, including those related to life, or they can come from primordial material in some meteorites.

(Complex Organics Bubble up from Enceladus, NASA)

The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck, and under the fierce conditions of trail life it grew and grew.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The primordial organ in an embryo before its differentiation into testis or ovary.

(Indifferent Gonad, NCI Thesaurus)

In a paper published in 2015, researchers proposed that cyanide, although a deadly poison, was in fact a key ingredient in the primordial soup from which all life on Earth originated.

(Scientists identify exoplanets where life could develop as it did on Earth, University of Cambridge)

He hypothesizes that essentially it started out as a dry rock and rapidly accreted hydrogen from a primordial disk of gas when its star was very young.

(Atmosphere of Midsize Planet Revealed by Hubble, Spitzer, NASA)

The blaze of tropic suns was in his face, and in his swelling, resilient muscles was the primordial vigor of life.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The observations of WASP-121b add to the developing story of how planets lose their primordial atmospheres.

(Hubble Uncovers a ‘Heavy Metal’ Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football, NASA)

And I was alone, floating, apparently, in the midst of a grey primordial vastness.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A structure composed of a short stem with embryonic leaves, with bud primordial in the axils and at the apex.

(Leaf Bud, Food and Drug Administration)

The young planet is carving a path through the primordial disc of gas and dust around the very young star PDS 70.

(First Confirmed Image of Newborn Planet, ESO)