‖ primitiæ, n. pl.
(praɪˈmɪʃɪiː)
[L. prīmitiæ, -ciæ the first things of their kind, firstlings, first-fruits, f. prīm-us first: cf. primices.]
1. First fruits or produce; spec. = annates 1.
| 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 518 The Courtier needes must recompenced bee With a Benevolence, or have in gage The Primitias of your Parsonage. 1657 Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 92 They offerd too the Primitiæ, or the first carvings of the flesh. 1672 Cowell's Interpr., Primitiæ, First-Fruits..in our Law, are the profits after avoidance of every spiritual Living for one year. |
2. Obstetrics. (See quot.)
| 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex., Primitiæ. 1895 Syd. Soc. Lex., Primitiæ{ddd}term applied to the amniotic fluid, whose discharge precedes the expulsion of the fœtus. |