'Primary' definitions:
Definition of 'primary'
From: WordNet
adjective
Of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary; "primary goals"; "a primary effect"; "primary sources"; "a primary interest" [ant: secondary]
adjective
Not derived from or reducible to something else; basic; "a primary instinct"
adjective
Most important element; "the chief aim of living"; "the main doors were of solid glass"; "the principal rivers of America"; "the principal example"; "policemen were primary targets"; "the master bedroom"; "a master switch" [syn: chief(a), main(a), primary(a), principal(a), master(a)]
adjective
Of or being the essential or basic part; "an elementary need for love and nurturing" [syn: elementary, elemental, primary]
adjective
Of primary importance [syn: basal, primary]
noun
A preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen [syn: primary, primary election]
noun
One of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing [syn: primary, primary feather, primary quill]
noun
(astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it
noun
Coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit; "current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil" [syn: primary coil, primary winding, primary]
Definition of 'Primary'
From: GCIDE
- Primary \Pri"ma*ry\, n.; pl. Primaries.
- 1. That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a chief matter. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A primary meeting; a caucus. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Zool.) One of the large feathers on the distal joint of a bird's wing. See Plumage, and Illust. of Bird. [1913 Webster]
- 4. (Astron.) A primary planet; the brighter component of a double star. See under Planet. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Primary'
From: GCIDE
- Primary \Pri"ma*ry\, a. [L. primarius, fr. primus first: cf. F. primaire. See Prime, a., and cf. Premier, Primero.]
- 1. First in order of time or development or in intention; primitive; fundamental; original. [1913 Webster]
- The church of Christ, in its primary institution. --Bp. Pearson. [1913 Webster]
- These I call original, or primary, qualities of body. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
- 2. First in order, as being preparatory to something higher; as, primary assemblies; primary schools. [1913 Webster]
- 3. First in dignity or importance; chief; principal; as, primary planets; a matter of primary importance. [1913 Webster]
- 4. (Geol.) Earliest formed; fundamental. [1913 Webster]
- 5. (Chem.) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement. [1913 Webster]
- Primary alcohol (Organic Chem.), any alcohol which possess the group CH2.OH, and can be oxidized so as to form a corresponding aldehyde and acid having the same number of carbon atoms; -- distinguished from {secondary & tertiary alcohols}.
- Primary amine (Chem.), an amine containing the amido group, or a derivative of ammonia in which only one atom of hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; -- distinguished from secondary & tertiary amines.
- Primary amputation (Surg.), an amputation for injury performed as soon as the shock due to the injury has passed away, and before symptoms of inflammation supervene.
- Primary axis (Bot.), the main stalk which bears a whole cluster of flowers.
- Primary colors. See under Color.
- Primary meeting, a meeting of citizens at which the first steps are taken towards the nomination of candidates, etc. See Caucus.
- Primary pinna (Bot.), one of those portions of a compound leaf or frond which branch off directly from the main rhachis or stem, whether simple or compounded.
- Primary planets. (Astron.) See the Note under Planet.
- Primary qualities of bodies, such are essential to and inseparable from them.
- Primary quills (Zool.), the largest feathers of the wing of a bird; primaries.
- Primary rocks (Geol.), a term early used for rocks supposed to have been first formed, being crystalline and containing no organic remains, as granite, gneiss, etc.; -- called also primitive rocks. The terms Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary rocks have also been used in like manner, but of these the last two only are now in use.
- Primary salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a polybasic acid in which only one acid hydrogen atom has been replaced by a base or basic radical.
- Primary syphilis (Med.), the initial stage of syphilis, including the period from the development of the original lesion or chancre to the first manifestation of symptoms indicative of general constitutional infection.
- Primary union (Surg.), union without suppuration; union by the first intention. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'primary'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- ab ovo,
- abecedarian,
- aboriginal,
- all-absorbing,
- antenatal,
- anterior,
- arch,
- austere,
- autochthonous,
- banner,
- bare,
- basal,
- basic,
- basilar,
- beginning,
- bottom,
- budding,
- by-election,
- capital,
- cardinal,
- caucus,
- central,
- champion,
- chaste,
- chief,
- chromatic circle,
- chromatic spectrum,
- chromaticity diagram,
- closed primary,
- color circle,
- color cycle,
- color index,
- color mixture curve,
- color solid,
- color spectrum,
- color system,
- color triangle,
- complementary color,
- congressional election,
- constituent,
- constitutive,
- contested election,
- controlling,
- creative,
- crowning,
- crucial,
- demitint,
- direct,
- direct primary,
- dominant,
- earliest,
- election,
- elemental,
- elementary,
- embryonic,
- essential,
- fetal,
- first,
- firsthand,
- focal,
- fore,
- forehand,
- foremost,
- formative,
- forward,
- foundational,
- front,
- frontal,
- full color,
- fundamental,
- fundamental colors,
- general election,
- generative,
- genetic,
- germinal,
- gestatory,
- great,
- gut,
- half tint,
- halftone,
- head,
- headmost,
- hegemonic,
- highest,
- homely,
- homespun,
- homogeneous,
- hue cycle,
- immediate,
- in embryo,
- in its infancy,
- in ovo,
- in the bud,
- inaugural,
- inceptive,
- inchoate,
- inchoative,
- incipient,
- incunabular,
- indivisible,
- infant,
- infantile,
- initial,
- initiative,
- initiatory,
- introductory,
- inventive,
- irreducible,
- leading,
- magisterial,
- maiden,
- main,
- mandatory primary,
- master,
- material,
- Maxwell triangle,
- mere,
- metamer,
- monochrome,
- monolithic,
- Munsell scale,
- nascent,
- natal,
- nonpartisan primary,
- of a piece,
- of the essence,
- open primary,
- optional primary,
- original,
- overriding,
- overruling,
- paramount,
- partisan election,
- parturient,
- pioneer,
- plain,
- postnatal,
- predominant,
- preeminent,
- preference primary,
- pregnant,
- premier,
- prenatal,
- preponderant,
- presidential election,
- presidential preference primary,
- presidential primary,
- prevailing,
- primal,
- primary color,
- primary election,
- prime,
- primeval,
- primitive,
- primogenial,
- primordial,
- principal,
- pristine,
- procreative,
- protogenic,
- prototypal,
- pure,
- pure and simple,
- pure color,
- radical,
- ranking,
- referendum,
- rudimental,
- rudimentary,
- ruling,
- runoff,
- runoff election,
- runoff primary,
- secondary,
- secondary color,
- seminal,
- severe,
- simon-pure,
- simple,
- single,
- solar spectrum,
- sovereign,
- spare,
- spectral color,
- spectrum,
- spectrum color,
- star,
- stark,
- stellar,
- substantial,
- substantive,
- supereminent,
- supreme,
- tertiary,
- tertiary color,
- topflight,
- topmost,
- ultimate,
- unadorned,
- unadulterated,
- uncluttered,
- uncopied,
- underived,
- underlying,
- undifferenced,
- undifferentiated,
- unduplicated,
- unexampled,
- uniform,
- unimitated,
- unmixed,
- unprecedented,
- unreproduced,
- uppermost,
- ur
Words containing 'Primary'
- Primaries,
- Primariness,
- Direct primary,
- Primary alcohol,
- Primary amine,
- Primary amputation,
- Primary axis,
- Primary colors,
- Primary meeting,
- Primary pinna,
- Primary planets,
- Primary quills,
- Primary rocks,
- Primary root,
- Primary salt,
- Primary syphilis,
- Primary union,
- Spurious primary,
- closed primary,
- open primary,
- primary amenorrhea,
- primary care,
- primary cell,
- primary censorship,
- primary coil,
- primary color,
- primary colour,
- primary dentition,
- primary dysmenorrhea,
- primary election,
- primary feather,
- primary quill,
- primary school,
- primary tooth,
- primary winding,
- Multiple primary root,
- Primary qualities of bodies,
- primary atypical pneumonia,
- primary care physician,
- primary care provider,
- primary color for light,
- primary color for pigments,
- primary colour for light,
- primary colour for pigments,
- primary health care,
- primary sex character,
- primary sex characteristic,
- primary sexual characteristic,
- primary sodium carbonate,
- primary solid solution,
- primary subtractive color for light,
- primary subtractive colour for light