See Also: primal(medicine)
primal(dictionary)
primal(dictionary)
primal repression(medicine)
primal scene(medicine)

primal (iou)



primal adjective, noun, & verb. M16.
[medieval Latin primalis, from Latin primus PRIME adjective: see -AL1.]
A. adjective.
= PRIMATIAL. rare. Only in M16.
Belonging to the first age or earliest stage; original; primitive, primeval. E17.
E. F. Benson Imitation..the most primal instinct.
b. Psychology. Of, pertaining to, or designating the needs, fears, behaviour, etc., that are postulated (esp. in Freudian theory) to form the origins of emotional life. E20.
Of first rank, standing, or importance; chief; fundamental, essential. E19.
P. Toynbee The primal message of the..NT.
Special collocations: primal father the dominant male of a primal horde. primal horde a postulated early form or unit of human social organization. primal scene Psychology: during which, in Freudian theory, a child becomes aware of his or her parents' sexual intercourse. primal scream Psychology: releasing emotion uncovered in primal therapy. primal therapy Psychology: in which a person attempts to recover his or her earliest (esp. emotional) experiences.
b. ellipt. as noun. Psychology. (An experience of) a primal emotion. L20.
Listener A true, deep primal,..a reliving of..childhood experience.
C. verb. Infl. -ll-, *-l-. Psychology.
verb intrans. Participate in primal therapy; release emotion, tension, etc., in a primal scream. L20.
verb trans. Subject to primal therapy. L20.
pri'mality noun (a) rare the quality or condition of being primal; an instance of this; (b) Math. the property of being a prime number: L16.
primally adverb L19.