prime directive

noun

An order or mission which presents the overriding control over a course of action.

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Meanings

nounprime directive (plural prime directives)

plural prime directives

  1. An order or mission which presents the overriding control over a course of action.

    The prime directive of Austrian policy was the preservation of this state of affairs.

    1955, René Albrecht-Carrié, Europe After 1815, page 32
    2 more examples

    We are, after all, discussing the prime directive of academic life and a vitally important rule of civilized life in general: Seek and disseminate the truth.

    1902, Michigan Law Review, University of Michigan Law School, page 1949

    Such probes would not invalidate the prime directive that a work of art must stand upon its intrinisic artistic merits

    1946: University of Iowa/University of Chicago, The Journal of General Education, p. 160
Cite this entry
APA

prime directive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prime%20directive

MLA

“prime directive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prime%20directive. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prime directive,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prime%20directive.

Source: prime directive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.