Primigenial (Page: 1138)
Pri`mi*ge"ni*al (?), a. First born, or first of all; original; primary. See Primogenial.

primipara
n.,
pl. 3a[ras or 3a[rae# 73! rc#8 5L < primus, first (see PRIME) + parere, to bear: see 3PAROUS6 a woman who is pregnant for the first time or who has borne just one child
pri[mip$a[rous
adj.

primogeniture
n.
5ML primogenitura < L primus, first + genitura, a begetting < genitus: see prec.6
1 the condition or fact of being the firstborn of the same parents
2 Law the exclusive right of the eldest son to inherit his father‘s estate

privy
adj.
5ME < OFr prive < L privatus, PRIVATE6
1 orig., private; not public: now only in such phrases as PRIVY COUNCIL
2 [Archaic] hidden, secret, furtive, etc.
n.,
pl. priv4ies
1 a toilet; esp., an outhouse
2 Law a person who is in privity with another
privy to privately informed about
priv$i[ly
adv.
proclitic
adj.
5ModL procliticus < Gr proklinein, to lean forward < pro3, forward (see PRO31) + klinein, to LEAN16 Gram. dependent on the following word for its stress: said as of a word that forms a phonetic unit with the following, stressed word (Ex.: for in “once and for all”), or of certain particles, as in classical Greek
n.
any such word or particle Cf. ENCLITIC

prodrome
n.
5Fr < L prodromus < Gr prodromos, forerunner: see PRO31 & 3DROME6Med. a warning symptom indicating the onset of a disease
pro[dro[mal 7prb4drb#m!l, 3drb$3; pr9$38 or pro[drom[ic 7prb dr9m4ik, prb#38
adj.
prognathous
adj.
5PRO31 + 3GNATHOUS6 having the jaws projecting beyond the upper face: also prog[nath$ic 73na04ik8
prog4na[thism
n.
prog[na[thous 7pr9g4n! 0!s; also pr9g na$38
adj.
5PRO31 + 3GNATHOUS6 having the jaws projecting beyond the upper face: also prog[nath$ic 73na04ik8
prog4na[thism
n.
prolegomenon
n.,
pl. 3e[na 73n!8 5Gr, neut. pass. prp. of prolegein, to say beforehand < pro3, before + legein, to speak: see PRO31 & LOGIC6
1 a preliminary remark
2 [often pl., with sing. v.] a preliminary statement or essay; foreword
pro#le[gom4e[nous 73n!s8
adj.

No proactive!?

Scripps-Howard laveled this word list "Words appearing infrequently". "proactive" is almost a cliché. Though I have never used it, nor am I thoroughly conversant with all of its ramifications. Let the Cliché Expert Testify.

Nor prophylactic. Which reminds me of merchandise destroyed in lorry accident Alex Williams posted about. Would one of those dolls fit definition of prophylactic? Which reminds me a Hebrew prayer beads. And Greek worry beads - what is the learned name for those? Of course, they could be a phylactory of sorts - obsessing about risk of conception.

When they say "words appearing infrequently", do they mean infrequently in general usage or infrequently in the competition?

Bingley

Dear Bingley: there is a site called "Carolyn's Coerner" with a lot of information about the spelling bee. They had three sets of words differing in frequency of usage. But
I have been surprised to find quite a few fairly common words inclided in what is supposed to be the least frequently used list. They apparently use a search engine that gets some really stupid coinages that I think they should have discarded. I'll go get URL to Carolyn's Corner.

http://www.spellingbee.com/cctoc.shtml

Well, I had a look at the site, Bill, but couldn't find any lists of words according to frequency of use. I agree they have had some remarkably common words in the extracts you've given us. That's what first led me to wonder whether it was frequency of use in the bees that was the basis for the categorisation.

Bingley