primary
UK /ˈpɹaɪ.m(ə.)ɹi/ · US /ˈpɹaɪˌmɛɹ.i/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms primaries primarying primaried
- adjective First or earliest in a group or series. “Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.”
- adjective Main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.
- adjective (geology) Earliest formed; fundamental. “Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.”
- adjective (chemistry) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
- adjective (medicine) Relating to the place where a disorder or disease started to occur.
- adjective (medicine) Relating to day-to-day care provided by health professionals such as nurses, general practitioners, dentists etc.
- noun (political science) A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party, or the first round of a two-round election.
- noun The first year of grade school.
- noun A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.
- noun The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system, such as a planet in relation to its satellites.
- noun A primary school.
- noun (ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.
- noun A primary colour.
- noun (military) The first stage of a thermonuclear weapon, which sets off a fission explosion to help trigger a fusion reaction in the weapon's secondary stage.
- verb (US, politics, transitive, intransitive) To challenge (an incumbent sitting politician) for their political party's nomination to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election, especially one that is more ideologically extreme.
- verb (US, intransitive, transitive) To take part in a primary election.
Synonyms
primary election primary feather primary quill primary coil primary winding chief main principal master elementary elemental basal
Antonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first (rank); chief, principal; excellent”), from prīmus (first; whence the English adjective prime) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French primaire, primer, and premier. Doublet of premier.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective First in order of time or development or in intention; primitive; fundamental; original.
- adjective First in order, as being preparatory to something higher; as, primary assemblies; primary schools.
- noun That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a chief matter.
- noun A primary meeting; a caucus.
Etymology [L. primarius, fr. primus first: cf. F. primaire. See Prime, a., and cf. Premier, Primero.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “primary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details