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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amine (Chem.), an amine containing the amido group, or a derivative of ammonia in which only one atom of hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; distinguished from secondary and tertiary amines.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Primary salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a polybasic acid in which only one acid hydrogen atom has been replaced by a base or basic radical.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


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"Primary" Quotes from Famous Books



... whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect; and, further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature; chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement. Humble and rustic life was generally chosen, because, in that condition, the essential passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less under ...
— The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century • William Lyon Phelps
... the wilderness than John D. Haseman, who spent from 1907 to 1910 in painstaking and thorough scientific investigation over a large extent of South American territory hitherto only partially known or quite unexplored. Haseman's primary object was to study the characteristics and distribution of South American fishes, but as a matter of fact he studied at first hand many other more or less kindred subjects, as may be seen in his remarks on the Indians ...
— Through the Brazilian Wilderness • Theodore Roosevelt
... two forms of salute are taught. The first, for primary children, is: "We give our heads and our hearts to God and our country; one country, one land, one flag." The second, for all other pupils, is: "I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which ...
— The Etiquette of To-day • Edith B. Ordway
... country where the currency value is sinking in terms of other currencies the manufacturer is getting his labour cheaper, seeing that wages are slow to follow increase in cost of living. Both pleas alike evade the primary truth that if country A trades with country B at all, it must receive some goods in payment for its exports, save in a case in which, for a temporary purpose, it may elect to import gold. But that fact is vital and must be ...
— Essays in Liberalism - Being the Lectures and Papers Which Were Delivered at the - Liberal Summer School at Oxford, 1922 • Various
... afar off, affirming the primary meaning of that parable to be plainly set forth in the context, while the secondary meaning pointeth out the folly of sowing seed anywhere save on good ground—which seemed to be only about one quarter of the ...
— The Hills of Hingham • Dallas Lore Sharp


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