The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Primary \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.
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The church of Christ, in its primary institution.
--Bp. Pearson.
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These I call original, or primary, qualities of
body. --Locke.
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2. First in order, as being preparatory to something higher;
as, primary assemblies; primary schools.
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3. First in dignity or importance; chief; principal; as,
primary planets; a matter of primary importance.
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4. (Geol.) Earliest formed; fundamental.
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5. (Chem.) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by,
some quality or property in the first degree; having
undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
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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hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; --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 (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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Color \Col"or\ (k[u^]l"[~e]r), n. [Written also colour.] [OF.
color, colur, colour, F. couleur, L. color; prob. akin to
celare to conceal (the color taken as that which covers). See
Helmet.]
1. A property depending on the relations of light to the eye,
by which individual and specific differences in the hues
and tints of objects are apprehended in vision; as, gay
colors; sad colors, etc.
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Note: The sensation of color depends upon a peculiar function
of the retina or optic nerve, in consequence of which
rays of light produce different effects according to
the length of their waves or undulations, waves of a
certain length producing the sensation of red, shorter
waves green, and those still shorter blue, etc. White,
or ordinary, light consists of waves of various lengths
so blended as to produce no effect of color, and the
color of objects depends upon their power to absorb or
reflect a greater or less proportion of the rays which
fall upon them.
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2. Any hue distinguished from white or black.
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3. The hue or color characteristic of good health and
spirits; ruddy complexion.
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Give color to my pale cheek. --Shak.
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4. That which is used to give color; a paint; a pigment; as,
oil colors or water colors.
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5. That which covers or hides the real character of anything;
semblance; excuse; disguise; appearance.
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They had let down the boat into the sea, under color
as though they would have cast anchors out of the
foreship. --Acts xxvii.
30.
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That he should die is worthy policy;
But yet we want a color for his death. --Shak.
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6. Shade or variety of character; kind; species.
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Boys and women are for the most part cattle of this
color. --Shak.
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7. A distinguishing badge, as a flag or similar symbol
(usually in the plural); as, the colors or color of a ship
or regiment; the colors of a race horse (that is, of the
cap and jacket worn by the jockey).
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In the United States each regiment of infantry and
artillery has two colors, one national and one
regimental. --Farrow.
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8. (Law) An apparent right; as where the defendant in
trespass gave to the plaintiff an appearance of title, by
stating his title specially, thus removing the cause from
the jury to the court. --Blackstone.
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Note: Color is express when it is averred in the pleading,
and implied when it is implied in the pleading.
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Body color. See under Body.
Color blindness, total or partial inability to distinguish
or recognize colors. See Daltonism.
Complementary color, one of two colors so related to each
other that when blended together they produce white light;
-- so called because each color makes up to the other what
it lacks to make it white. Artificial or pigment colors,
when mixed, produce effects differing from those of the
primary colors, in consequence of partial absorption.
Of color (as persons, races, etc.), not of the white race;
-- commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro
blood, pure or mixed.
Primary colors, those developed from the solar beam by the
prism, viz., red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
violet, which are reduced by some authors to three, --
red, green, and violet-blue. These three are sometimes
called fundamental colors.
Subjective color or Accidental color, a false or spurious
color seen in some instances, owing to the persistence of
the luminous impression upon the retina, and a gradual
change of its character, as where a wheel perfectly white,
and with a circumference regularly subdivided, is made to
revolve rapidly over a dark object, the teeth of the wheel
appear to the eye of different shades of color varying
with the rapidity of rotation. See Accidental colors,
under Accidental.
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