primary

pronunciation

How to pronounce primary in British English: UK [ˈpraɪməri] word uk audio image

How to pronounce primary in American English: US [ˈpraɪmeri] word us audio image

Noun:

a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen
one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit
Adjective:

of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondhand
not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
most important element
of or being the essential or basic part
of primary importance

Word Origin

primary (adj.): early 15c., "of the first order," from Latin primarius "of the first rank, chief, principal, excellent," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Meaning "first in order" is from 1802. Primary color is first recorded 1610s (at first the seven of the spectrum, later the three from which others can be made); primary school is 1802, from French école primaire.The Paris journals ... are full of a plan, brought forward by Fourcroy, for the establishment of primary schools, which is not interesting to an English reader. [London "Times," April 27, 1802] Related: Primarily.

primary (n.): 1861, American English, short for primary election (1792, with reference to France; in a U.S. context from 1835); earlier primary caucus (1821).

adj.

adj.