primyadj.
/ˈprʌɪmi/, U.S. /ˈpraɪmi/ Chiefly poetic. Now rare.
That is in its prime; indicative of (a person's) prime.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > prime > [adjective]
floweringc1400
in youth's flowers?1507
primy1604
consisting1623
in the flower of one's age1647
seasonable1883
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. iii. 7 A Violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweete, not lasting. View more context for this quotation
1796 R. Jephson Conspiracy i. i. 10 Yet full orb'd charms like her's..Strike deeper root in the young amorous heart Than equal youth in its fresh primy bloom.
1828 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 23 536 Sent forth..by those of powerful and primy manhood.
1857 H. Melville Confidence-man vii He might have been five and fifty, perhaps sixty, but tall, rosy,..with a primy, palmy air.
1875 H. Ellison Stones from Quarry 200 O rose, full of the primy dew of morn.
1999 Sydney Morning Herald 24 May 15/2 Oh do not Call it love though thousands praise These primy thoughts of thee.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1604