Primary Meaning
/ˈpɹaɪ.m(ə.)ɹi/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjFirst or earliest in a group or series.
adjMain; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.
Sentence Examples
The primary aim of science is to find truth, new truth.
It would be very convenient if English were to become everybody's primary language.
Our primary objective is reducing road casualties.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ objective of the mission is to gather data on Mars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ goal of the project is to reduce carbon emissions by fifty percent within ten years.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first (rank); chief, principal; excellent”), from prīmus (first; whence the English adjective prime) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French primaire, primer, and premier. Doublet of premier.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"the church of Christ, in its primary institution"
— 1659, John Pearson, Exposition of the Creed:
"In recent primaries, for example, nearly 4% of absentees were rejected in Philadelphia; 8% in Kentucky; and 20% in parts of New York City."
— 2020 September 14, Richard H. Pildes, “The three words that can avert an election nightmare”, in CNN:
"Before Americans pick a president in November, they get to pick the candidates in a series of primaries and caucuses. […] Biden could still win New Hampshire’s primary through a write-in campaign, but the first sanctioned Democratic contest is in South Carolina in February."
— 2024 January 22, Zachary B. Wolf, “2024 US presidential primaries, explained”, in CNN:
"Excellence in Cities offers a further development of this approach, whereby secondary schools operate with small clusters of primaries as mini-EAZs."
— 2001, David Woods, Martyn Cribb, Effective LEAs and school improvement:
"`Good Lord, look at that swiftlet, it's got two primaries missing from its left wing!'"
— 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 115:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ objective of the mission is to gather data on Mars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ goal of the project is to reduce carbon emissions by fifty percent within ten years.