# proximal primitive parent ## proximal primitive parent **This is a synonym for proximal primitive supertype.** ## proximal primitive supertype A primitive concept that is a supertype of specified concept and is **not** a *supertype* of any other *primitive concept* that is a *supertype* or the specified *concept*. #### Notes * All *concepts* except the root concept have at least one *proximal primitive supertype* concept. In many cases this is a top level hierarchy concept. However, in some case one or more intermediate primitive supertypes may exist between the top level *concept* and a defined *concept*. * A concept's *proximal primitive supertypes* represent aspects of the meaning of that *concept* that are not formally defined by other axioms. * The chapter on Proximal primitive modeling in the SNOMED CT Editorial Guide explains the role of *proximal primitive supertypes* in modeling concepts. #### Example In Figure 1 the *concepts***C** , **D** , **E** and **F** have a single *proximal primitive supertype***B**. *C* *oncept***A** is also primitive, but it is a supertype of **B** so it is not a *proximal primitive supertype* of these *concepts*. Similarly *concepts***H** , **J** and **N** have a single proximal primitive supertype **G**. Concepts **L** and **M** have a single *proximal primitive supertype***I**. Note that **G** is not a *proximal primitive supertype* for these *concepts* because it is a *supertype* of *concept* **I**. In this hierarchy only concept **P** has more than one *proximal primitive supertypes*. The *proximal primitive supertypes* of concept **P** are concepts**K\*\* \*\*and**I\*\* \*\*as neither of these *concepts* is a *supertype* of the other. Figure 1: Illustrative Hierarchy Diagram

## Alternatives * **Proximal primitive parent** ## Provide Feedback