primipilar

English

Etymology

From Latin primipilaris, from primipilus (“the centurion of the first cohort of a Roman legion”), from primus pilus (“the division made up of the triarii in the Roman army”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌpɹaɪmɪˈpaɪlə(ɹ)/

Adjective

primipilar (not comparable)

(Ancient Rome) Of or relating to the captain of the vanguard of a Roman army.
- a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “[The I. Supposition Discussed, that Saint Peter had a Primacy over the Apostles]”, in J[ohn] Tillotson, editor, A Treatise of the Pope’s Supremacy. […], London: […] Miles Flesher, for Brabazon Aylmer, […], published 1680, →OCLC, page 49:
  Upon ſuch grounds it may be reaſonable to allovv S. Peter a primacy of order; ſuch an one as the Ring-leader hath in a Dance, as the primipilar Centurion had in the Legion, or the Prince of the Senate had there, in the Roman State; […]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “primipilar”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)