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primary Definition

pri·mary (prī′mer′ē, -mə rē)

adjective

  1. first in time or order of development; primitive; original; earliest
  2. from which others are derived; fundamental; elemental; basic
  3. designating colors regarded as basic, or as those from which all others may be derived: classification of colors as primary varies
  4. of or in the first stage of a sequence; elementary primary school
  5. first in importance; chief; principal; main a primary concern
  6. firsthand; direct a primary source of information
  7. Chem.
    1. characterized by or resulting from the replacement of one atom or radical
    2. 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)
  8. Elec. designating or of an inducing current, input circuit, or input coil in a transformer, induction coil, etc.
  9. Geol.
    1. formed directly by sedimentation, solidification, or precipitation and not subsequently altered: said of rocks
    2. Obsolete designating or of the earliest geological periods, up through the Paleozoic Era
  10. Linguis. having as its fundamental form a base or other element that cannot be broken down: said of derivation
  11. Med. designating or having to do with the initial medical care given to a patient, before referral to another doctor, a specialist, etc.
  12. 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

  1. something first in order, quality, importance, etc.
  2. ☆ in the U.S.,
    1. a local meeting of voters of a given political party to nominate candidates for public office, select delegates to a convention, etc.
    2. direct primary election
  3. any of the primary colors
  4. Astron.
    1. a sun, planet, etc. in relation to its satellites
    2. the brighter member of a binary star
  5. Elec. a primary coil
  6. Zool. a primary feather

primary Synonyms

primary

modif.

  1. Earliest

    primitive, initial, first; see original 1.

  2. Fundamental

    elemental, basic, central; see fundamental 1.

  3. Principal

    chief, prime, main; see principal.

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.