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[prahy-mer-ee, -muh-ree] /ˈpraɪ mɛr i, -mə ri/

adjective
1.
first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal:
his primary goals in life.
2.
first in order in any series, sequence, etc.
3.
first in time; earliest; primitive.
4.
of, relating to, or characteristic of primary school:
the primary grades.
5.
constituting or belonging to the first stage in any process.
6.
of the nature of the ultimate or simpler constituents of which something complex is made up:
Animals have a few primary instincts.
7.

8.
immediate or direct, or not involving intermediate agency:
primary perceptions.
9.
Sociology. (of social values or ideals) conceived as derived from the primary group and culturally defined as being necessary to the welfare of the individual and society.
10.
Ornithology. pertaining to any of the set of flight feathers situated on the distal segment of a bird’s wing.
11.
Electricity. noting or pertaining to the circuit, coil, winding, or current that induces current in secondary windings in an induction coil, transformer, or the like.
12.
Chemistry.

13.
Grammar.

noun, plural primaries.
14.
something that is first in order, rank, or importance.
15.
U.S. Politics.

16.
.
17.
Ornithology. a primary feather.
18.
Electricity. a winding in a transformer or the like that carries a current and that induces a current in secondary windings.
19.
Astronomy.

verb (used with object), primaried, primarying.
20.
U.S. Politics. to challenge or oppose (the incumbent) in a primary election, usually for strong ideological reasons (often used in passive constructions):
The congressman was primaried by a more conservative candidate.
verb (used without object), primaried, primarying.
21.
U.S. Politics. to run as a candidate in a primary election.
/ˈpraɪmərɪ/
adjective
1.
first in importance, degree, rank, etc
2.
first in position or time, as in a series
3.
fundamental; basic
4.
being the first stage; elementary
5.
(prenominal) of or relating to the education of children up to the age of 11
6.
(of the flight feathers of a bird’s wing) growing from the manus
7.

8.

9.
(chem)

10.
(linguistics)

11.
(geology) relating to magmas that have not experienced fractional crystallization or crystal contamination
noun (pl) -ries
12.
a person or thing that is first in rank, occurrence, etc
13.
(in the US)

Full name primary election
14.
See primary colour
15.
any of the flight feathers growing from the manus of a bird’s wing
16.
a primary coil, winding, inductance, or current in an electric circuit
17.
(astronomy) a celestial body around which one or more specified secondary bodies orbit: the sun is the primary of the earth
adj.

early 15c., “of the first order,” from Latin primarius “of the first rank, chief, principal, excellent,” from primus “first” (see prime (adj.)). Meaning “first in order” is from 1802. Primary color is first recorded 1610s (at first the seven of the spectrum, later the three from which others can be made); primary school is 1802, from French école primaire.

The Paris journals … are full of a plan, brought forward by Fourcroy, for the establishment of primary schools, which is not interesting to an English reader. [London “Times,” April 27, 1802]

Related: Primarily.

n.

1861, American English, short for primary election (1792, with reference to France; in a U.S. context from 1835); earlier primary caucus (1821).

primary pri·mar·y (prī’měr’ē, -mə-rē)
adj.

primary
(prī’měr’ē)