1
often capitalized
: a bishop who has precedence in a province, a group of provinces, or a nation
2
archaic
: one first in authority or rank : leader
3
: any of an order (Primates) of mammals that are characterized especially by advanced development of binocular vision resulting in stereoscopic depth perception, specialization of the hands and feet for grasping, and enlargement of the cerebral hemispheres and that include humans, apes, monkeys, and related forms (such as lemurs and tarsiers)
Examples of primate in a Sentence
the Primate of England and Wales
Recent Examples on the Web
Authorities urged residents near the facility to keep windows and doors secured while the search for the primates remained active.
—
Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 11 Nov. 2024
The landscape also included large primates, rodents, snakes, crabs — and even carnivorous marsupials.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
The primate’s behavior could instead suggest a failure to grasp the fact that the baby has died; far from being inconsolable, maybe the animal in question is just oblivious.
—Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
Research has shown that CWD prions can be transmitted to some non-human primates, namely the squirrel monkey.
—Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for primate 
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Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 11 Nov. 2024
The landscape also included large primates, rodents, snakes, crabs — and even carnivorous marsupials.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
The primate’s behavior could instead suggest a failure to grasp the fact that the baby has died; far from being inconsolable, maybe the animal in question is just oblivious.
—Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
Research has shown that CWD prions can be transmitted to some non-human primates, namely the squirrel monkey.
—Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for primate
Dictionary Entries Near primate
Cite this Entry
“Primate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/primate. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
primate
noun
pri·mate
ˈprī-ˌmāt 
or especially for 1 -mət
1
: a bishop or archbishop of the highest rank in a district, nation, or church
2
: any of an order of mammals that are characterized by hands and feet that grasp, a relatively large complex brain, and vision in which objects are seen in three dimensions and that includes human beings, apes, monkeys, and related forms (as lemurs and tarsiers)
Medical Definition
primate
noun
pri·mate
ˈprī-ˌmāt
: any mammal of the order Primates
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