primary

Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈpraɪməri/, SAMPA: /"praIm@ri/
• (US) enPR: prīʹmĕr-ē, IPA: /ˈpraɪmɛri/, SAMPA: /"praImEri/ or enPR: prīʹmə-rē, IPA: /ˈpraɪməri/, SAMPA: /"praIm@ri/

• Audio (US)

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Etymology

From Latin primarius (“of the first, of the first rank, chief, principal, excellent”), from primus (“first”); see prime. Compare French: primaire and primer and premier.

Adjective

primary (comparative more primary, superlative most primary)

1. The first in a group or series.

   Children attend primary school, teenagers attend secondary school.

2. That which is placed ahead of others.

   Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.

Derived terms

• primarily
• primary care
• primary color, primary colour
• primary producer
• primary research
• primary school
• primary source

Translations

first in a group or series

Catalan: primari (ca) m., primària (ca) f.

Finnish: ensimmäinen (fi), perus- (fi), ensi- (fi), ala- (fi)

that which is placed ahead of others

Arabic: اولي (’áwwali) Catalan: primari (ca) m., primària (ca) f. Chinese: 第一的 (dìyī de) Danish: primær (da) Dutch: voornaamste (nl) Finnish: ensisijainen (fi) French: principal (fr) German: primär (de)

Hungarian: első (hu), elsődleges (hu) Italian: primario (it) Japanese: 最初の (さいしょの, saisho no) Korean: 본래의 (bollae-ui) Portuguese: primário (pt) Russian: первичный (pervíčnyj) Spanish: primario (es) Swedish: primär (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Telugu: ప్రాథమిక (praathamika)

See also

• first
• primus inter pares
• secondary (2)
• tertiary (3)
• quaternary (4)

Noun

primary (plural primaries)

1. A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party.
2. The first year of grade school.
3. A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.
4. The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system.
5. A primary school.
   • 2001, David Woods, Martyn Cribb, Effective LEAs and school improvement

     Excellence in Cities offers a further development of this approach, whereby secondary schools operate with small clusters of primaries as mini-EAZs.

6. (ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.
7. A primary colour.
   • 2003, Julie A Jacko, Andrew Sears, The human-computer interaction handbook

     By adding and subtracting the three primaries, cyan, yellow, and magenta are produced. These are called subtractive primaries.

Translations

preliminary election

Finnish: esivaalit (fi) Hungarian: előválasztás (hu)

Persian: نخستین

first year of grade school

Catalan: primària (ca) f. Finnish: ensimmäinen luokka (fi), ekaluokka (fi) Persian: ابتدایی (fa)

Spanish: primaria (es) f.

base or fundamental component

Catalan: primari (ca) m., bàsic (ca) m., fonamental (ca) m. Finnish: perusta (fi)

Spanish: básico (es)

ornithology: flight feather

Finnish: siipisulka (fi)

Scottish Gaelic: prìomh ite sgèith (gd) f., ite gàirdeanach (gd) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Telugu: ప్రాథమికం (te) (praathamikaM)

• Primary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

primary (third-person singular simple present primaries, present participle primarying, simple past and past participle primaried)

1. (US) To take part in a primary election

External links

• primary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• primary in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911