Primalities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The fundamental states or qualities that pertain to the most basic and essential aspects of existence
2. Characteristics or elements that evoke the original, instinctual nature of beings and their inherent drives
3. The primary or original forces and principles that influence behavior and the natural world

Etymology: "Primalities" is the plural of "primality," a noun formed in English from the adjective "prime" plus the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun of quality or state. Its root goes back through Old French "prime" to Latin "primus," meaning "first," which also gave English "primary" and "primitive." The base adjective "primal" is an older English formation, and the noun "primality" follows the same pattern as "beauty" from "beautiful" or "rationality" from "rational." Because "primality" has a precise mathematical meaning (the property of being a prime number), the word is most familiar to readers from number theory, and its use in the plural to describe instinctive or original qualities of living beings is a more figurative extension.