primate
pri·mate/ˈpɹaɪmeɪt/noun
primate is spelled P-R-I-M-A-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (pri·mate). It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, primate means “A mammal of the order Primates, comprising of apes (including humans), monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, lorisids, and galagos” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of primate is primates.
How many letters and syllables are in primate?
| Letters | 7: P-R-I-M-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: pri·mate |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 24,170th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is primate?
Primate appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce primate?
- /ˈpɹaɪmeɪt/
As a noun (“In the Catholic Church, a rare title conferred to or…”): /ˈpɹaɪmeɪt/, /ˈpɹaɪmət/, /ˈpɹaɪmeɪt/.
Primate has 2 syllables, split pri·mate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-primate.ogg, En-au-primate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of primate
- primates plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does primate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mammal of the order Primates, comprising of apes (including humans), monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, lorisids, and galagos.
Primates range from lemurs to gorillas.
- 2
informalAn anthropoid; ape including human.
- 3
In the Catholic Church, a rare title conferred to or claimed by the sees of certain archbishops, or the highest-ranking bishop of a present or historical, usually political circumscription.
The Archbishop of Quebec is the primate of Canada.
- 4
In the Orthodox Church, the presiding bishop of an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or region. Usually, the expression primate refers to the first hierarch of an autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox church. Less often, it is used to refer to the ruling bishop of an archdiocese or diocese.
- 5
In the Anglican Church, an archbishop, or the highest-ranking bishop of an ecclesiastic province.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Primate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | primate , primat |
| German | Primat , Primas |
| Portuguese | primata , primado |
| Spanish | primate , primado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does primate come from?
First attested in 1876. From French primate, from the substantivization of Latin prīmās, prīmātis (“one of the first, chief, excellent, noble”), same as Etymology 2. So named due to the belief that primates are the highest order of mammals or animals.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).