primary

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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. 2
   adj

   First or earliest in a group or series.

   Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.

3. 3
   adj

   Main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.

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

4. 4
   noun

   A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party, or the first round of a two-round election.

   In recent primaries, for example, nearly 4% of absentees were rejected in Philadelphia; 8% in Kentucky; and 20% in parts of New York City.

5. 5
   noun

   A primary school.

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

6. 6
   noun

   Any flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.

   `Good Lord, look at that swiftlet, it's got two primaries missing from its left wing!'

7. 7
   noun

   A primary colour.

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

8. 8
   noun

   The primary site of a disease; the original location or source of the disease.

   unknown primary

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first (rank); chief, principal; excellent”), from prīmus (first; whence the English adjective prime) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French primaire, primer, and premier. Doublet of premier.