Etymology

schwa primum

Today it means: A vowel formerly reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European; now generally held to be a syllabic laryngeal consonant. Full definition →

New Latin schwa prīmum
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The story

  1. New Latin · borrowed fromschwa prīmum
  2. English todayschwa primum

From the New Latin schwa prīmum (literally “first schwa”), so named in contrast with schwa secundum.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.