primates Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an animal order including lemurs and tarsiers and monkeys and apes and human beings
    order Primates.
  2. noun a senior clergyman and dignitary
    hierarch; high priest; prelate; primate; archpriest.
  3. noun any placental mammal of the order Primates; has good eyesight and flexible hands and feet
    primate.

WordNet


Pri*ma"tes noun plural
Etymology
NL.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The highest order of mammals. It includes man, together with the apes and monkeys. Cf. Pitheci.

Webster 1913