In the verb sense, first appeared in Thomas D'Urfey'sA Fool's Preferment in the year 1688.
In the noun sense, first appeared inA New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew in the year 1699, meaning "prig." Now obsolete.
In the adjective sense, first appeared in Sir Richard Steele'sThe Funeral in the year 1702, meaning "consciously or affectedly strict or precise; stiffly formal and respectable."
Oxford English Dictionary proposed a relation withprimp andprink. Chiefly Scottish and U.S.
Philip Babcock Goveet al., editors (1961), “prima”, inWebster's Third New International Dictionary[…], volume II (H to R), published1981,→ISBN, page1800
Philip Babcock Goveet al., editors (1961), “primv”, inWebster's Third New International Dictionary[…], volume II (H to R), published1981,→ISBN, page1800
AIS:Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] –map 1510: “un filo sottile” – onnavigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
ALF:Atlas Linguistique de la France[2] – map 1631AB – onlig-tdcge.imag.fr
Romanian adjectives are usually placed after the noun they modify. However,prim in the sense of “first” alwaysprecedes its corresponding noun. Conversely, in the other senses it follows the noun as expected.
As with Englishfirst,prim is considered an intrinsically definite adjective and is usually articulated. Indefinite use is also possible:un prim pas(“a first step”).
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, launched 2000.