Dictionary Definition
primary adj
1 of first rank or importance or value; direct
and immediate rather than secondhand; "primary goals"; "a primary
effect"; "primary sources"; "a primary interest" [ant: secondary]
2 not derived from or reducible to something
else; basic; "a primary instinct"
3 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" [syn: chief(a), main(a), primary(a),
principal(a)]
4 of or being the essential or basic part; "an
elementary need for love and nurturing" [syn: elementary]
Noun
1 a preliminary election where delegates or
nominees are chosen [syn: primary
election]
2 one of the main flight feathers projecting
along the outer edge of a bird's wing [syn: primary
feather, primary
quill]
3 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]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- (UK): /ˈpraɪməri/, /"praIm@ri/
- (US): , /ˈpraɪmɛri/, /"praImEri/ or , /ˈpraɪməri/, /"praIm@ri/
Adjective
- The first in a group or series.
- Children attend primary school, teenagers attend secondary school.
- That which is placed ahead of others.
- Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.
Derived terms
Translations
The first in a group or series
- Finnish: ensimmäinen, perus-
That which is placed ahead of others
- Arabic:
- Chinese: 第一的 (dìyī de)
- Dutch: voornaamste
- Finnish: ensisijainen
- French: principal
- German: primär
- Hungarian: első, elsődleges
- Italian: primario
- Japanese: 最初の (さいしょの, saisho no)
- Korean: 본래의 (bollae-ui)
- Portuguese: primário
- Russian: первичный (pervíčnyj)
- Spanish: primario
- Swedish: primär
See also
- first
- primus inter pares
- secondary (2)
- tertiary (3)
- quaternary (4)
Noun
- A preliminary election to select a political candidate.
- The first year of grade school.
- A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.
- The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system.
Translations
a preliminary election to select a political
candidate
- Finnish: esivaalit
- Hungarian: előválasztás
the first year of grade school
a base or fundamental component; something that
is irreducible
Verb
- To take part in a primary election
Extensive Definition
The word Primary when used alone may refer
to:
- Primary (band), from Australia
- primary circuit, electrical circuit in a Transformer that receives current, as opposed to secondary circuit
- Primary (film), 1960 documentary
- Primary (LDS Church), children's Sunday School organization
- "Primary" (song), by The Cure
- Primary education, the first stage of compulsory education
- Primary election, Type of election
- Primary Flight Training, in the U.S. Navy
- Primary FRCA, academic examination for anaesthetists in the U.K.
- Primary ideals, a concept in commutative algebra
- Primary Music, Israeli record label
- Primary school, a school providing primary education
- Primary, the oldest period in the Geologic time scale
- "Primary", a song by Spoon from the album Telephono
- Primaries, remiges (wing feathers) in birds
- Primaries or primary beams, in E. E. Smith's science-fiction series Lensman
- Primary colour
primary in Danish: Primær
primary in German: Primary
primary in French: Primaire
primary in Spanish: Primario
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Maxwell triangle, Munsell scale, 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, mere, metamer, monochrome, monolithic, 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