Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Primary   /prˈaɪmˌɛri/   Listen
adjective
Primary  adj.  
1.
First in order of time or development or in intention; primitive; fundamental; original. "The church of Christ, in its primary institution." "These I call original, or primary, qualities of body."
2.
First in order, as being preparatory to something higher; as, primary assemblies; primary schools.
3.
First in dignity or importance; chief; principal; as, primary planets; a matter of primary importance.
4.
(Geol.) Earliest formed; fundamental.
5.
(Chem.) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
Primary alcohol (Organic Chem.), any alcohol which possess the group CH2.OH, and can be oxidized so as to form a corresponding aldehyde and acid having the same number of carbon atoms; distinguished from secondary and tertiary alcohols.
Primary amine (Chem.), an amine containing the amido group, or a derivative of ammonia in which only one atom of hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; distinguished from secondary and tertiary amines.
Primary amputation (Surg.), an amputation for injury performed as soon as the shock due to the injury has passed away, and before symptoms of inflammation supervene.
Primary axis (Bot.), the main stalk which bears a whole cluster of flowers.
Primary colors. See under Color.
Primary meeting, a meeting of citizens at which the first steps are taken towards the nomination of candidates, etc. See Caucus.
Primary pinna (Bot.), one of those portions of a compound leaf or frond which branch off directly from the main rhachis or stem, whether simple or compounded.
Primary planets. (Astron.) See the Note under Planet.
Primary qualities of bodies, such are essential to and inseparable from them.
Primary quills (Zool.), the largest feathers of the wing of a bird; primaries.
Primary rocks (Geol.), a term early used for rocks supposed to have been first formed, being crystalline and containing no organic remains, as granite, gneiss, etc.; called also primitive rocks. The terms Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary rocks have also been used in like manner, but of these the last two only are now in use.
Primary salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a polybasic acid in which only one acid hydrogen atom has been replaced by a base or basic radical.
Primary syphilis (Med.), the initial stage of syphilis, including the period from the development of the original lesion or chancre to the first manifestation of symptoms indicative of general constitutional infection.
Primary union (Surg.), union without suppuration; union by the first intention.


noun
Primary  n.  (pl. primaries)  
1.
That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a chief matter.
2.
A primary meeting; a caucus.
3.
(Zool.) One of the large feathers on the distal joint of a bird's wing. See Plumage.
4.
(Astron.) A primary planet; the brighter component of a double star. See under Planet.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Primary" Quotes from Famous Books



... experience wears a face of a disgusting dryness difficult to recall in later days; or if there be any exception - and here destiny steps in - it is in those moments when, wearied or surfeited of the primary activity of the senses, he calls up before memory the image of transacted pains and pleasures. Thus it is that such an one shies from all cut-and-dry professions, and inclines insensibly toward that ...
— Across The Plains • Robert Louis Stevenson
... all in common with them, because, like himself, they are the ministers and adopted children of Bowanee. The destruction of his fellow-creatures, not belonging to his community—the diminution of the human race—that is the primary object of his pursuit; it is not as a means of gain, for though plunder may be a frequent, and doubtless an agreeable accessory, it is only secondary in his estimation. Destruction is his end, his celestial mission, his calling; it is also a delicious passion, the most captivating of all sports—this ...
— The Wandering Jew, Complete • Eugene Sue
... A manual for the introduction of Froebel's System of Primary Education into Public Schools; and for the use of Mothers and Private Teachers. With 16 plates. 12mo, pp. ...
— Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel • Friedrich Froebel
... Empire or the United States, but for good citizenship in any possible Ireland under any possible form of government. To arrest these influences before they bring on in Ireland a social crash, the effects of which must be felt far beyond the boundaries of that country, is a matter of primary importance, doubtless, to the British people. It is a matter, too, of hardly less than primary importance to the people of my own country. Unfortunately it does not rest with us to devise or to apply an efficient check to ...
— Ireland Under Coercion (2nd ed.) (2 of 2) (1888) • William Henry Hurlbert
... of the firm hold of a party, whether religious or political, upon the public mind, when it may offend with impunity against its own primary principles." ...
— The Story of the Mormons: • William Alexander Linn


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com