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hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; --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:
Primitive \Prim"i*tive\, a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the
first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.]
1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early
times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as,
primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive
great sire." --Milton.
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2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned;
characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of
dress.
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3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive
verb in grammar.
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Primitive axes of coordinate (Geom.), that system of axes
to which the points of a magnitude are first referred,
with reference to a second set or system, to which they
are afterward referred.
Primitive chord (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of
which is of the same literal denomination as the
fundamental base of the harmony; -- opposed to derivative.
--Moore (Encyc. of Music).
Primitive circle (Spherical Projection), the circle cut
from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane.
Primitive colors (Paint.), primary colors. See under
Color.
Primitive Fathers (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian
writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D.
325. --Shipley.
Primitive groove (Anat.), a depression or groove in the
epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with
the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of
it.
Primitive plane (Spherical Projection), the plane upon
which the projections are made, generally coinciding with
some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a
meridian.
Primitive rocks (Geol.), primary rocks. See under
Primary.
Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.
Primitive streak or Primitive trace (Anat.), an opaque
and thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in
the vertebrate blastoderm.
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Syn: First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval;
antiquated; old-fashioned.
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