Definition

1. Adjective:

   • First or highest in rank, importance, or value; principal: Something that is "primary" is the most important or fundamental element in a situation.
   • Earliest in time or order of development; fundamental: This refers to something that is original, basic, or not derived from something else.
   • Relating to the education of children between the ages of about five and eleven: This describes the first stage of formal education.

2. Noun:

   • A preliminary election to appoint delegates or select candidates for a principal election: This is a political event where voters choose their party's candidate for a later general election.
   • A primary color: In art and physics, this is one of a set of colors from which all other colors can be obtained by mixing.
   • A primary feather: In ornithology, this is one of the main flight feathers on a bird's wing.
   • The primary coil: In electricity, this is the coil in a transformer that receives the input current.

Examples

• Adjective:

  • The primary goal of the project is to help the community. (The most important goal...)
  • Food and shelter are primary needs for survival. (The most basic, fundamental needs...)
  • She teaches at a primary school. (A school for young children in the first stage of education.)

• Noun:

  • He won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire. (The preliminary election to select a candidate.)
  • Red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors. (The basic colors from which others are made.)
  • The bird's damaged primary feathers affected its ability to fly. (The main flight feathers.)

Advanced Usage

• "Primary source": An original document, recording, or artifact created at the time under study.
  • Historians rely on primary sources like letters and diaries.
• "Primary responsibility": The main or most important duty.
  • My primary responsibility is to ensure everyone's safety.
• "Of primary importance": Being the most significant consideration.
  • In this negotiation, trust is of primary importance.

Variants and Related Words

• Primarily (adverb): For the most part; mainly.
  • This book is primarily intended for students.
• Primacy (noun): The state of being first in importance.
  • The primacy of the individual is a key principle.

Synonyms

• Main: Most important.
• Principal: First in order of importance.
• Fundamental: Forming a necessary base or core.
• Chief: Most important.

Antonyms

• Secondary: Coming after, and less important than, something primary.
• Minor: Lesser in importance, seriousness, or significance.
• Derivative: Originating from, or based on, something else.

Related Phrases

• Primary care: Basic or general health care provided by a doctor.
  • You should see your primary care physician for a check-up.
• Primary industry: An industry involved in the extraction of natural resources, like farming or mining.
  • The country's economy was once based on primary industries.

Adjective

1. of primary importance
2. of or being the essential or basic part
   • an elementary need for love and nurturing
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
   • the master bedroom
   • a master switch
4. not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
   • a primary instinct
5. of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary
   • primary goals
   • a primary effect
   • primary sources
   • a primary interest

Noun

1. 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
2. (astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it
3. one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
4. a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen