primordial

UK/pɹaɪˈmɔː.di.əl/US/pɹaɪˈmɔɹ.di.əl/

adjectiveC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,203 of 15,258leans written

Primordial means belonging to the very earliest times. The primordial soup, primordial forest, a primordial fear.

The primordial soup is the standing phrase for the chemistry that preceded life. Applied to a feeling it means something that seems older than thought — a primordial fear of the dark is one nobody had to learn.

Definitions of primordial

1adjectiveprimordialBelonging to the very earliest times.C1
“Scientists believe life began in the primordial oceans billions of years ago.”

primordial is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin primordialis means of the beginning, from primus, first, plus ordiri, to begin.

Latin
prīmōrdiālis — of the beginning
English, today
primordial

From the Latin prīmōrdiālis (“of the beginning”). Compare primordium and -al.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

primordial in the wild

Nun is one of the eight deities of the Ogdoad representing ancient Egyptian primordial Chaos from which the primordial mound arose.
Nun (mythology)
The primordial deities of Greek mythology are the first generation of gods and goddesses.
Greek primordial deities
Typically, people with primordial dwarfism are born with very low birth weights.
Primordial dwarfism
After birth, growth continues at a much slower rate, leaving individuals with primordial dwarfism perpetually years behind their peers in stature and in weight.
Primordial dwarfism
In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite.
Eros

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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