Meaning

noun a senior clergyman and dignitary

noun any placental mammal of the order Primates; has good eyesight and flexible hands and feet

originFirst attested in c. 1275. From Middle English primat(e), from Old French primat (French primat), from Late Latin prīmās, prīmātis (“chief bishop”), substantivisation of prīmās (same as Etymology 1), from prīmus (“prime, first in rank (also as a substantive)”). Compare English primus, of similar derivation and meaning.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0