primyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
prim: [18] Prim etymologically means ‘first’. It comes from Old French prime, the feminine form of prin ‘fine, excellent’, which went back to Latin prīmus ‘first’ (source of English prime). The English meaning developed through a derogatory ‘overrefined’.
=> first, prime
primyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
1680s (v.) "to assume a formal, precise demeanor," perhaps from French prim "thin, small, delicate," from Old French prim "fine, delicate," from Latin primus "finest," literally "first" (see prime (adj.)). Later, "deck out, dress to effect" (1721). Attested as a noun from 1700. The adjective, the sole surviving sense, is from 1709. A cant word at first. Related: Primly; primness.