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Glite Dictionary
primum mobile

primum mobile

9.9
A being that starts all motion and has no cause itself
  • noun
  • /ˈpraɪməm ˈmoʊbəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : primum mobile
  • The theologian argued that God is the primum mobile, the uncaused cause behind the entire universe.

Examples

  • In Aristotelian philosophy, the concept of the primum mobile refers to the initial cause that sets everything else in motion.

  • Rosario Polentinos merits more than a brief comment, if only because she represents the primum mobile behind the plot.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Many philosophers have pondered the nature of the primum mobile as the ultimate source of existence.

Synonyms

first cause
vsprimum mobile
  • Formal
2 9.9

A being or force believed to be the original reason everything exists and was not made by anything

is used mainly in philosophical contexts rather than both philosophy and theology
prime mover
vsprimum mobile
  • Formal
1 9.9

A first being people think starts everything, often the God of some religions

focuses more on initiating motion or existence than general origin

Surface Forms

primum mobile singular
primum mobiles plural

Morphology

primum + mobile

If a learner knew the constituents as Latin-derived words ('primum' = first, 'mobile' = movable) they could recover a literal sense like 'first movable' which points toward the idea of a 'prime mover'. However, the phrase is a technical, Latin philosophical term whose specific extension to 'first cause' or an uncaused prime mover is specialized and not fully predictable for an average B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Primum mobile comes from old ideas about the sky, where people pictured a first moving sphere or force that set everything else in motion. The words primum and mobile mean 'first' and 'mover', so the phrase came to mean a first cause or 'prime mover' that starts everything.