primary

Pluralprimaries

Formsprimaries, primarying, primaried

1. 1
   mainadjective

   Most important or main; ranked ahead of all others in significance.

   The primary reason for the delay was bad weather.

   Reducing costs became the company's primary objective this year.

   Similarmain, chief, principal, key, major

   Oppositesecondary, minor, subsidiary

   Note

   Rank rather than sequence: the Latin source already meant 'chief, principal' as well as 'first', so importance was part of the word from the start. It sits before its noun (primary reason, primary claim), and finance gives it a precise edge: preferred stock's primary claim on dividends is paid ahead of common stock. When a sentence could mean first in time, the order sense is the other reading. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • English primary comes from Latin prīmārius. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Latin source already expressed first rank and importance, including chief and principal. en.wiktionary.org
   • Preferred stockholders receive dividends before common stockholders. investor.gov
2. 2
   party electionnouncountable

   A preliminary election held to choose a political party's candidate, or the first round of a two-round election.

   The senator faced a tough primary against two challengers from her own party.

   Turnout in the spring primary was higher than expected.

   UsageYou run in, win or lose a primary, often against a rival from your own party.

   Note

   Paired with caucuses, it is the stage that comes before the general election. Zachary B. Wolf, writing in CNN in 2024, explains that Americans 'pick the candidates in a series of primaries and caucuses.' In runoff systems it is instead the opening round that narrows the field. The noun is also the base of the verb for challenging an incumbent. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Primaries and caucuses precede the presidential general election. usa.gov
   • Zachary B. Wolf wrote the cited CNN article in 2024. lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org
   • The quoted words accurately reproduce Wolf's explanation. wbaltv.com
   • A primary can be the opening round of a two-round election. en.wikipedia.org
   • The political noun underlies the verb describing a challenge to an incumbent for renomination. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   adjective

   First or earliest in time, order, or development, especially as the original form from which later things develop.

   Children usually lose their primary teeth between the ages of six and twelve.

   Syphilis is easiest to treat in its primary stage, before it spreads through the body.

   UsageOften paired with secondary: the primary and secondary stages.

   Note

   This is the order sense. Its Latin source prīmārius is built on prīmus, 'first', the root behind English prime, and the word is a doublet of premier. John Pearson's Exposition of the Creed (1659) speaks of the church 'in its primary institution', meaning as it was first founded, which is earliest rather than most important.

4. 4
   elementary schoolnounBritishcountable

   A school covering the earliest years of a child's education, before secondary school.

   The new primary opened with three classes of five-year-olds.

   She spent her whole career teaching at one primary.

   UsageShort for primary school: she teaches at a primary in the village.

5. 5
   basic health careadjective

   Relating to the everyday health care provided by professionals such as nurses, general practitioners, and dentists.

   Patients usually see a primary care provider before being referred to a specialist.

   Rural areas often lack primary health care, so families may drive for hours just to get a routine checkup.

   UsageAlmost always in primary care or primary health care: a primary care doctor.

   Note

   A health-system word about levels of contact, not about where a disease began. Primary care is the patient's first and routine point of contact, with general practitioners, nurses and dentists, and specialist or hospital services are usually reached by referral. Keep it apart from the 'site of origin' sense: a primary care physician and a primary tumor share a field but not a meaning. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Primary care provides first-contact and continuing everyday care through professionals including general practitioners, nurses and dentists. en.wiktionary.org
   • Referral is one route to these services; exceptions include direct access to emergency departments and sexual health clinics. nhs.uk
   • Primary in primary tumor concerns the original tumor rather than the level of health-care contact. cancer.gov
6. 6
   base colornouncountable

   One of a set of basic colors mixed to produce other colors, such as red, blue, and yellow in traditional painting.

   On the screen, every shade is built from three primaries of light.

   Painters often keep one warm and one cool version of each primary on the palette.

   UsageAs a noun, short for primary color: the three primaries.

   Note

   Which colors count as primaries depends on how they mix. Light adds, while ink and pigment subtract, and Julie A. Jacko and Andrew Sears's The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook (2003) names cyan, yellow and magenta the subtractive primaries. Red, blue and yellow belong to the painter's set. Before asking which colors are 'the' primaries, say which kind of mixing you mean. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The choice of primary colors depends on the mixing model. en.wikipedia.org
   • Light mixes additively, while inks and pigments mix subtractively. chemart.rice.edu
   • The handbook identifies cyan, yellow and magenta as subtractive primaries. en.wiktionary.org
   • Red, blue and yellow are the traditional painter's primaries. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   adjective

   Describing a disease or growth at the place in the body where it first began, as opposed to a place it has spread to later.

   The scan revealed a primary growth in the liver and several smaller secondary ones.

   Treatment depends on whether the primary disease is in the bone or elsewhere.

   Oppositesecondary

   Note

   Oncology leans on this sense most heavily. A primary tumor is the growth a cancer began as, and the deposits it later seeds elsewhere by metastasis are called secondary. Clinicians therefore speak of a primary lesion in the liver or bone and of secondary growths derived from it. Usually the adjective comes before its noun; standing alone, the word becomes the noun for the original site.

8. 8
   adjective

   Having to do with the earliest stage of formal education, which children attend from roughly age five to eleven.

   The state plans to spend more on primary education in its rural districts.

   Many primary teachers say their classes of seven-year-olds have grown too large.

   Similarelementary

   Note

   The schooling sense keeps the Latin primus, "first", in plain view: this is the first stage of education. In this use the adjective stands before its noun (primary education, primary teachers, a primary pupil) and is not graded, so more primary has no place here. Standing alone as a noun, the word names the school itself.

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