Phrase guide

prime implicant

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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1

noun

Meaning 1

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").

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, electrical, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A 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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, electrical, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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