Prime mover Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun an agent that is the cause of all things but does not itself have a cause
primum mobile; first cause.
- God is the first cause

. (Mech.) (a) A natural agency applied by man to the production of power. Especially: Muscular force; the weight and motion of fluids, as water and air; heat obtained by chemical combination, and applied to produce changes in the volume and pressure of steam, air, or other fluids; and electricity, obtained by chemical action, and applied to produce alternation of magnetic force. (b) An engine, or machine, the object of which is to receive and modify force and motion as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water-pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the prime mover in English antislavery agitation.