primate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a senior clergyman and dignitary
    hierarch; high priest; prelate; archpriest.
  2. noun any placental mammal of the order Primates; has good eyesight and flexible hands and feet

WordNet

Pri"mate noun
Etymology
OE. primat, F. primat, L. primas, -atis one of the first, chief, fr. primus the first. See Prime, a.
Definitions
  1. The chief ecclesiastic in a national church; one who presides over other bishops in a province; an archbishop.
  2. (Zoöl.) One of the Primates.

Webster 1913