What does primordial mean?
Word: Primordial
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Primordial means belonging to the very first age of the world, at the start of time.
How do you spell primordial?
Syllables: pri - mor - di - al
Tricky part: The i before the al is easy to lose or to swap for an e, because the two vowels run together in speech.
Watch out for: primordeal, primordal
Memory tip: The final four letters make dial. Picture the dial of the world's oldest clock, ticking at the dawn of time.
Primordial in a sentence
Example 1: Walking through the misty ferns felt like stepping into a primordial forest.
Example 2: A primordial silence hung over the canyon at dawn.
Example 3: Some bacteria in hot springs are thought to resemble primordial life.
Fun Fact
Scientists use the phrase primordial soup for the warm mix of chemicals in Earth's early seas, where many think life began.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
One letter in this word is not needed. Find it:
primmordial
a) m
b) r
c) a
d) d
Show answer
a) m. Prim opens the word with a single m, so the extra one goes.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence and choose the word they make:
The deep valley seemed almost rpoidmalir, untouched since the world began.
a) perennial
b) pictorial
c) primordial
d) proverbial
Show answer
c) primordial. Two r's, two i's and a d point to just one option.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word primordial as used in the sentence:
Geologists say that these rocks formed in the primordial oceans of the young Earth.
a) earliest
b) original
c) modern
d) ancient
Show answer
c) modern. Rocks that old belong to the start of time; the opposite belongs to the present day.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. evolution 2. geologey 3. primordial 4. prehistoric
a) from the time before written records
b) the study of rocks and how the Earth formed
c) belonging to the dawn of all things
d) the slow change of living things over generations
Show answer
b) the study of rocks and how the Earth formed. Geology ends in ology, like biology, with no e before the y.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which would a scientist be most ready to call primordial?
a) gases from the early universe
b) a road built last century
c) the rules of one-day cricket
d) a new type of phone battery
Show answer
a) gases from the early universe
2. A primordial forest is one that ____.
a) was planted by the state last year
b) grows only fruit trees for sale
c) is run as a tourist park at present
d) has stood since before any people came
Show answer
d) has stood since before any people came
