primary Definition
pri·mary (prī′mer′ē, -mə rē)
adjective
- first in time or order of development; primitive; original; earliest
- from which others are derived; fundamental; elemental; basic
- designating colors regarded as basic, or as those from which all others may be derived: classification of colors as primary varies
- of or in the first stage of a sequence; elementary primary school
- first in importance; chief; principal; main a primary concern
- firsthand; direct a primary source of information
- Chem.
- characterized by or resulting from the replacement of one atom or radical
- characterized by groups or radicals that are attached to the end carbon atom of a chain, i.e., to a CH group (Ex.: primary alcohols, CHOH; primary amines, CHNH)
- Elec. designating or of an inducing current, input circuit, or input coil in a transformer, induction coil, etc.
- Geol.
- formed directly by sedimentation, solidification, or precipitation and not subsequently altered: said of rocks
- Obsolete designating or of the earliest geological periods, up through the Paleozoic Era
- Linguis. having as its fundamental form a base or other element that cannot be broken down: said of derivation
- Med. designating or having to do with the initial medical care given to a patient, before referral to another doctor, a specialist, etc.
- Zool. designating or of the large, stiff feathers on the last section, or hand, of a bird's wing
Etymology: ME prymary < L primarius < primus, first: see prime
noun pl. -·ries
- something first in order, quality, importance, etc.
- ☆ in the U.S.,
- a local meeting of voters of a given political party to nominate candidates for public office, select delegates to a convention, etc.
- direct primary election
- any of the primary colors
- Astron.
- a sun, planet, etc. in relation to its satellites
- the brighter member of a binary star
- Elec. a primary coil
- Zool. a primary feather
primary Synonyms
primary
modif.
primary Usage Examples
Converse of object
- mix: Try using fewer colors, mixing just the three primaries and using more white paint.
- associate: Each cluster consists of a secondary school, associated primaries and pre-five establishments.
- enter: The Importance of Context A woman entered the Democratic primary for governor of the state of Texas.
Adjective modifier
- Democratic: The Importance of Context A woman entered the Democratic primary for governor of the state of Texas.
- Welsh: In Welsh primaries, the figure dropped 3 % but it rose by 23 % in secondaries.
- total: Most part version hand are everywhere to court group's total primary.
- more: Richard's work has been more primary focused so is probably more relevant to you.
- non: The first section is non primary and begins at a set of traffic lights just to the east of Maidstone on the A20.
- all-gaelic: An all-Gaelic primary is also planned for Inverness to cater for 150 pupils.
Modifies a noun
- school: For all ages, from primary school to adult learners.
- care: Setting The study setting would appear to be primary care.
- trust: Sexual health leads in primary care trusts are essential.
- aim: The primary aim of the problem sheets is to enable the students to assess their own ability against the session objectives.
- source: They ' come from ' the ' primary sources ' .
- objective: Search our Site: sitemap 1. OBJECTIVES The primary objective is to achieve Best Practice in long term interoperability between IT systems.
Modifying Another Word
- together: This site concentrates on bringing together primary source material relating to the Ancient World in a structured manner.
- also: There are also primary documents, biographies, interactive maps and an examination of how the media covered the war.
- there: RSS and Blog and Ping are indirect methods to alert search engines, but it's not there primary purpose.
Noun used with modifier
smallthe: Too smallthe primary depend upon where pdf accessed botman to educate employees.
Possessives
group: Most part version hand are everywhere to court group's total primary.
Browse dictionary entries near primary
- ‹ primarily
- ‹ primaquine
- ‹ primal therapy
- ‹ primal scene
- ‹ primal
- ‹ primacy
- ‹ prima facie evidence
- ‹ prima facie case
- ‹ prima facie
- ‹ prima donna

