'primate-like' originates from English, combining the noun 'primate' and the suffix '-like', where 'primate' itself derives from Latin 'primatus' (via Old French) and the suffix '-like' meant 'having the nature of'.

'primate' changed from Old French 'primat' and Medieval Latin 'primatus' (from Latin 'primus'), and the modern English adjective 'primate-like' was formed by combining 'primate' with the productive English suffix '-like'.

Initially, 'primate' meant 'one of first rank' (especially a high-ranking church official), but over time it came to name the mammalian order Primates; 'primate-like' now means 'resembling members of that order'.