Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb In the first place.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In the first place; first in order: a word introducing a series of specified particulars, as in the beginning of a will.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In the first place; first in order.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In the first place (used to introduce a list of items or considerations).

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English in primis, from Latin in prīmīs : in, among; see in– + prīmīs, ablative pl. of prīmus, first; see per in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin imprimis ("firstly")

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Examples

  • [1.11] "Imps." is the abbreviation for the Latin word "imprimis" which means "in the first place; first.

    Inventory of Robert Carter's Estate, November [1733] 1733

  • "Sed propositum salutis et eos amplectitur, qui Creatorem agnoscunt, inter quos imprimis Musulmanos, qui fidem Abrahae se tenere profitentes, nobiscum Deum adorant unicum, misericordem, homines die novissimo iudicaturum." from Lumen Gentium §16.

    CONFIRMED 2009

  • Sed ab hoc incepto me non solum deterruerunt sordidi colores virides et violacei, qui ex mistionibus illis prodibant, sed et imprimis illud, quod, ob differentes pigmentorun grauitates specificas et inaequalem cum aqua cohaesionem, et ab artis perito magni errores facile committi poterant.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • Praeterea coeruleum montanum, licet ob hilaritatem, elegantiam et imprimis ob aptitudinem sui coloris, [98] quippe qui = b0 [i.e., b12], prae reliquis pigmentis coeruleis eligendum, non a quouis ita tractari potest, vt colore aequabili chartam inducat.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • Colluvies hominum mirabiles excocti solo, immundi vestes foedi visu, furti imprimis acres, &c.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Utile imprimis noctu faciem illinire sanguine leporino, et mane aqua fragrorum vel aqua floribus verbasci cum succo limonum distillato abluere.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Jam inde non belli gloria quam humanitatis cultu inter florentissimas orbis Christiani gentes imprimis floruit.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Lucullum aestivo tempore convinessent, Pompeius inter coenam dum familiariter jocatus est, eam villam imprimis sibi sumptuosam, et elegantem videri, fenestris, porticibus, &c.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Mulieribus omnibus hoc imprimis in votis est, ut formosae sint, aut si reipsa non sint, videantur tamen esse; et si qua parte natura defuit, artis supetias adjungunt: unde illae faciei unctiones, dolor et cruciatus in arctandis corporibus, &c. 5008.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • De nat. deorum consolatur afflictos, deducit perterritos a timore, cupiditates imprimis, et iracundias comprimit.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

Comments

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  • In the first place.

    December 17, 2007