1. (a.) First in order of time or development or in intention; primitive; fundamental; original.
2. (a.) First in order, as being preparatory to something higher; as, primary assemblies; primary schools.
3. (a.) First in dignity or importance; chief; principal; as, primary planets; a matter of primary importance.
4. (a.) Earliest formed; fundamental.
5. (a.) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
6. (n.) That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a chief matter.
7. (n.) A primary meeting; a caucus.
8. (n.) One of the large feathers on the distal joint of a bird's wing. See Plumage, and Illust. of Bird.
9. (n.) A primary planet; the brighter component of a double star. See under Planet.
Thesaurus Entries
Maxwell triangle, Munsell scale, ab ovo, abecedarian, aboriginal, all-absorbing, antenatal, anterior, arch, austere, autochthonous, banner, bare, basal, basic, basilar, beginning, bottom, budding, by-election, capital, cardinal, caucus, central, champion, chaste, chief, chromatic circle, chromatic spectrum, chromaticity diagram, closed primary, color circle, color cycle, color index, color mixture curve, color solid, color spectrum, color system, color triangle, complementary color, congressional election, constituent, constitutive, contested election, controlling, creative, crowning, crucial, demitint, direct, direct primary, dominant, earliest, election, elemental, elementary, embryonic, essential, fetal, first, firsthand, focal, fore, forehand, foremost, formative, forward, foundational, front, frontal, full color, fundamental, fundamental colors, general election, generative, genetic, germinal, gestatory, great, gut, half tint, halftone, head, headmost, hegemonic, highest, homely, homespun, homogeneous, hue cycle, immediate, in embryo, in its infancy, in ovo, in the bud, inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular, indivisible, infant, infantile, initial, initiative, initiatory, introductory, inventive, irreducible, leading, magisterial, maiden, main, mandatory primary, master, material, mere, metamer, monochrome, monolithic, nascent, natal, nonpartisan primary, of a piece, of the essence, open primary, optional primary, original, overriding, overruling, paramount, partisan election, parturient, pioneer, plain, postnatal, predominant, preeminent, preference primary, pregnant, premier, prenatal, preponderant, presidential election, presidential preference primary, presidential primary, prevailing, primal, primary color, primary election, prime, primeval, primitive, primogenial, primordial, principal, pristine, procreative, protogenic, prototypal, pure, pure and simple, pure color, radical, ranking, referendum, rudimental, rudimentary, ruling, runoff, runoff election, runoff primary, secondary, secondary color, seminal, severe, simon-pure, simple, single, solar spectrum, sovereign, spare, spectral color, spectrum, spectrum color, star, stark, stellar, substantial, substantive, supereminent, supreme, tertiary, tertiary color, topflight, topmost, ultimate, unadorned, unadulterated, uncluttered, uncopied, underived, underlying, undifferenced, undifferentiated, unduplicated, unexampled, uniform, unimitated, unmixed, unprecedented, unreproduced, uppermost, ur
