Primordial
In the late 1300’s, primordial was borrowed into English from Latin primordialis, meaning “first, original arrangement”. Primordialis was from primus, “first” (origin of primal and prime), plus ordiri, “to begin weaving or arranging”. Ordiri is also the root of order, and comes from an ancient Latin word for arranging the threads of a loom.
Phonosemantically, primordial stirs inklings of ancient powers and origins. Primor- indicates a tremendous energy that arises from a point and manifests a deep, earthy power; the result being the generation of patterns and order on a grand scale. The connection here between primordial and weaving recalls the phrases “the web of life” and “Indra’s net.”
Thanks to Nio for suggesting this word of the day!
August 29th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Jeff,
I was pondering the meaning of this word just today, unsure if it was the right one to use. This definitely clears all doubts about it!
August 29th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Vitor, that’s great! Nio and I are glad to be of service.
Slade and others have mentioned at times how the words-of-the-day are often surprisingly appropriate for them on the day they see them. I like to think that there’s some guidance going on here…
September 1st, 2007 at 5:40 am
[...] reasoning and learning about them as a group. But every blade of grass is different, and something primordial is lost when you’re looking at a pile of labeled boxes instead of the real [...]