Definitions for: Primary


[n] a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen
[n] one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
[n] 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"
[adj] not derived from or reducible to something else; basic; "a primary instinct"
[adj] of primary importance; "basic truths"
[adj] of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondhand; "primary goals"; "a primary effect"; "primary sources"; "a primary interest"
[adj] of or being the essential or basic part; "an elementary need for love and nurturing"



Webster (1913) Definition: Pri"ma*ry, a. [L. primarius, fr. primus first: cf. F.
primaire. See Prime, a., and cf. Premier, Primero.]
1. First in order of time or development or in intention;
primitive; fundamental; original.

The church of Christ, in its primary institution.
--Bp. Pearson.

These I call original, or primary, qualities of
body. --Locke.

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 & 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hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; --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 & 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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.


Pri"ma*ry, n.; pl. Primaries.
1. That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a
chief matter.

2. A primary meeting; a caucus.

3. (Zo["o]l.) One of the large feathers on the distal joint
of a bird's wing. See Plumage, and Illust. of Bird.

4. (Astron.) A primary planet; the brighter component of a
double star. See under Planet.

Synonyms: basal, basic, capital, direct, elementary, essential, firsthand, first-string, original, particular, primary coil, primary election, primary feather, primary quill, primary winding, special, underived

Antonyms: secondary

See Also: coil, direct primary, election, first, flight feather, pinion, quill, quill feather, transformer

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