prime implicant

noun

A group of related 1's (implicant) on a Karnaugh map which is not subsumed by any other implicant in the same map. Equivalently (in terms of Boolean algebra), a product term which is a "minimal" implicant in the sense that removing any of its literals will yield a product term which is not an implicant (but beware: on a Karnaugh map it would appear "maximal").

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Meanings

nounprime implicant (plural prime implicants)

plural prime implicants

  1. businessA group of related 1's (implicant) on a Karnaugh map which is not subsumed by any other implicant in the same map. Equivalently (in terms of Boolean algebra), a product term which is a "minimal" implicant in the sense that removing any of its literals will yield a product term which is not an implicant (but beware: on a Karnaugh map it would appear "maximal").
  2. businessA group of related 0's (implicant) on a Karnaugh map which is not subsumed by any other implicant (of 0's) in the same map.

Origin

An implicant (Boolean product term) which is called "prime" because none of its proper factors is itself an implicant.

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Cite this entry
APA

prime implicant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prime%20implicant

MLA

“prime implicant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prime%20implicant. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prime implicant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prime%20implicant.

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