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
prim
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.
例文
1. We tend to imagine that the Victorians were very prim and proper.
私たちはビクトリア時代の人を非常に古風で規則正しく想像する傾向があります。
2.On her blonde wavy hair,the white hat looked nicely prim .
この白い帽子は彼女の金色のカールにかぶるととても上品に見える。
3.You can 't tell her that joke-she 's much too prim and proper.
彼女にその冗談を言わないでください。彼女という人はとてもまじめです。
4.She 's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!
彼女は古風すぎて、下品な冗談を聞くのが好きではありません!
5.It was a strange conjunction-the prim serious young Queen and the elderly,cynical Whing.