Primary meaning

What does “primary” mean? Definitions, examples, synonyms and opposites.

“primary” is a noun and adjective with 8 meanings. Its most common meaning is: a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen.

primary

noun

  1. a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen

  2. one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing

  3. (astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it

  4. 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”

adjective

  1. of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary

    “primary goals”

    “a primary effect”

    Oppositessecondary
  2. not derived from or reducible to something else; basic

    “a primary instinct”

  3. most important element

    “the chief aim of living”

    “the main doors were of solid glass”

  4. of or being the essential or basic part

    “an elementary need for love and nurturing”

    “a basal reader”

Source: WordNet 3.1, Princeton University