primary

 
Pronunciation: /ˈprʌɪm(ə)ri/

adjective

  • 1of chief importance; principal: the government’s primary aim is to see significant reductions in unemployment
  • 2earliest in time or order: the primary stage of their political education
  • Biology & Medicine belonging to or directly derived from the first stage of development or growth: a primary bone tumour
  • (Primary) Geologyformer term for Palaeozoic.
  • 3not derived from, caused by, or based on anything else: the research involved the use of primary source materials
  • 4chiefly British relating to or denoting education for children between the ages of about five and eleven: a primary teacher
  • 5relating to or denoting the input side of a transformer or other inductive device.
  • 6 Chemistry (of an organic compound) having its functional group located on a carbon atom which is bonded to no more than one other carbon atom: a primary alcohol
  • (chiefly of amines) derived from ammonia by replacement of one hydrogen atom by an organic group.

noun (plural primaries)

  • 1 (also primary election) (in the US) a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principal, especially presidential, election: these two republicans should win their primaries easily
  • 2a primary colour.
  • Ornithology a primary feather.
  • Astronomy the body orbited by a smaller satellite or companion.
  • a primary coil or winding in an electrical transformer.
  • 3 (the Primary) Geology, dated the Palaeozoic era.

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'original, not derivative'): from Latin primarius, from primus 'first'. The noun uses date from the 18th century