- Webster's Primary Dictionary 1892
- Oxford Primary Dictionary
- Primary I-dictionary 1 Download
- Primary Dictionary For Kids
Definition and synonyms of primary from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education. This is the British English definition of primary.View American English definition of primary. Change your default dictionary to American English. View the pronunciation for primary.
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- Primary synonyms, primary pronunciation, primary translation, English dictionary definition of primary. First or highest in rank or importance; principal. See Synonyms at chief. Occurring first in time or sequence; earliest: the primary stages of.
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Dictionary entry details
• PRIMARY(noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
primary; primary election
Hypernyms ('primary' is a kind of...):
election (a vote to select the winner of a position or political office)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of 'primary'):
direct primary (a primary where voters directly select the candidates who will run for office)
Sense 2
Meaning:
One of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting animals
Synonyms:
primary; primary feather; primary quill
Hypernyms ('primary' is a kind of...):
flight feather; pinion; quill; quill feather (any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ('primary' is a kind of...):
celestial body; heavenly body (natural objects visible in the sky)
Domain category:
astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
primary; primary coil; primary winding
Context example:
current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil
Hypernyms ('primary' is a kind of...):
coil (reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit)
Holonyms ('primary' is a part of...):
transformer (an electrical device by which alternating current of one voltage is changed to another voltage)
• PRIMARY(adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary
Context example:
a primary interest
Similar:
particular; special (first and most important)
original ((of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary)
capital (of primary importance)
direct (being an immediate result or consequence)
firsthand (received directly from a source)
first-string (being a regular member of a team)
Also:
essential (basic and fundamental)
original (being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of)
first (preceding all others in time or space or degree)
Antonym:
secondary (being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
Context example:
a primary instinct
Similar:
underived (not derived; primary or simple)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Most important element
Webster's Primary Dictionary 1892
Synonyms:
chief; main; master; primary; principal
direct (being an immediate result or consequence)
firsthand (received directly from a source)
first-string (being a regular member of a team)
Also:
essential (basic and fundamental)
original (being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of)
first (preceding all others in time or space or degree)
Antonym:
secondary (being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
Context example:
a primary instinct
Similar:
underived (not derived; primary or simple)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Most important element
Webster's Primary Dictionary 1892
Synonyms:
chief; main; master; primary; principal
Context example:
a master switch
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Of or being the essential or basic part
Synonyms:
basal; elemental; elementary; primary
Oxford Primary Dictionary
Context example:
a basal reader
Primary I-dictionary 1 Download
Similar:
Primary Dictionary For Kids
basic (pertaining to or constituting a base or basis)
