primaryadj.n.

Brit.

/ˈprʌɪm(ə)ri/, U.S.

/ˈpraɪˌmɛri/,

/ˈpraɪm(ə)ri/

Forms: late Middle English prymary, late Middle English (in a late copy)–1500s primarye, late Middle English– primary, 1500s prymarye, 1500s–1700s primarie.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin prīmārius.

Etymology: < classical Latin prīmārius of the first rank or importance, chief, principal, in post-classical Latin also primitive, original (c400), first, former (10th cent.), that has priority (13th cent.) < prīmus prime adj. + -ārius -ary suffix¹. Compare French primaire (1789: see below), Catalan primari (1539), Spanish primario (second half of the 14th cent. or earlier as noun, end of the 15th cent. or earlier as adjective), Portuguese primário (1685), Italian primario (a1348). With use as noun compare post-classical Latin primarius leading man, leader (Vetus Latina). Compare primer adj., premier adj., and also prime adj.In sense A. 8 after French primaire (1789 in this sense, in assemblée primaire primary assembly; this is the earliest attestation of the French word). In sense A. 9 after French primaire (1791 in this sense, in école primaire primary school). In sense A. 12 after post-classical Latin primarius (1729 in tempora primaria primary tenses, or earlier). In sense A. 15 probably after French primaire (1805 (in Cuvier) or earlier in this sense, in penne primaire primary feather). In sense A. 18a after German Stamm- (in Stammkerne (plural) primary nuclei: 1848 in the source translated in quot. 1852), itself after French fondamental (in radical fondamental : A. Laurent 1836, in Ann. de chimie et de physique 61 126). In sense A. 18b after French primaire (in amides primaires , plural: C. Gerhardt & L. Chiozza 1853, in Comptes rendus hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. 37 88). In sense A. 18c after German primär (H. Kolbe 1864, in Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm. 132 102, originally with reference to alcohols).

A. adj.

I. General senses.

1. Occurring or existing first in a sequence of events; belonging to the beginning or earliest stage of something; first in time.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adjective] > first or prior to all others

formec888

eldestc897

firstlOE

originalc1350

foremosta1400

furthermost?a1400

primary?a1425

primatea1425

primea1500

arch1574

soon1591

origin1632

utter1634

premier1652

aboriginary1653

furthest1653

fontal1656

principial1699

première1768

protological1936

first-ever1955

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 155 (MED) Þe primary cause or þe first infloweþ more þan þe secundary cause.

1442 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1919) II. 51 We..have founde many and dyverse thynges among yowe agayn your prymary institucyone, rewle and obseruaunces regulere.

a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 59 Fyrst thow them putrefye, her primarye quallytes destroiyng vtterlye.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 357 Besides this originall, and primary foundation, divers others have made impressions according unto different ages and persons.

1651 C. Cartwright Certamen Religiosum i. 107 So we grant that primary antiquity is a sure note of truth.

1702 G. Farquhar Love & Business 140 Here is the primary Design of Comedy, illustrated from its first Institution.

1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes i. 5 Let us look..at the Hero as Divinity, the oldest primary form of Heroism.

1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. ii. xvi. 273 In the order of constructive thought, the sensation of muscular tension is primary, and that of pressure secondary.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 801/2 They were adapted both for giving the necessary primary surgical treatment and for removing the wounded quickly from the sphere of fighting.

1962 J. L. Austin's How to do Things with Words vi. 71 The explicit performative must be a later development than certain more primary utterances.

1993 F. Collymore RSVP to Mrs Bush-Hall 128 That primary phase of her obligation as hostess accomplished, the reception of her guests, she..was contemplating with satisfaction the pulsating scene before her.

2. Of the highest rank or importance; principal, chief.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [adjective]

mother?c1225

originalc1350

radicala1398

primitive?a1425

fundamentalc1449

primordial?a1450

primea1500

primary1565

nativea1592

fundamentive1593

primordiate1599

primara1603

remote1605

originousa1637

originary1638

parental1647

principiate1654

fontal1656

underivative1656

underived1656

fountainous1662

first hand1699

matricular1793

first-handed1855

protomorphic1887

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important

mosteOE

foremostc1000

headOE

headlyOE

nexta1200

umest1513

primary1565

headest1577

ruling1590

forward1591

capital1597

of the first magnitude1643

palmary1646

top1647

prepondering1651

headmost1661

home1662

life-and-death1804

palmarian1815

bada1825

key1832

première1844

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [adjective]

firsteOE

headOE

highOE

greatc1350

upperestc1374

chief1377

singular1377

principala1382

royalc1425

cardinal1440

pre-eminenta1460

praisea1475

main1480

maina1525

primary1565

captain1566

arch1574

mistressa1586

capital1597

topless1609

primea1616

metropolitan1635

transeminent1660

whole1675

uppermost1680

primus inter pares1688

topping1694

Sudder1787

par excellence1839

banner1840

primatial1892

the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > originality or non-imitation > [adjective]

authentic1407

untransumed1526

authentical1565

primary1565

exampleless1603

unimitatedc1610

unfollowed1630

originary1679

uncopied1737

unimitating1751

unreprinted1775

unimitative1807

protogenic1855

1565 H. Bullinger Let. to Bishops 3 May in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. xlii. 428 We would do nothing..without the privity of you, the primary ministers.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1955) II. 204 I meane of a primary necessity, of a necessity to be beleeved De fide.

1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. 170 The primary end of our life, unto what al our actions ought to collime, as arrows to their scope.

1720 T. Brett Coll. Princ. Liturgies 298 The Orarium was a long narrow Towel,..the primary Use of it was to wipe the Mouth or the Fingers as there was occasion.

1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V II. vi. 447 The primary object of almost all the monastic orders is to separate men from the world.

a1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1857) 3rd Ser. ii. 18 Every apostle, in his way, assigns to faith a primary importance.

1883 Contemp. Rev. 43 11 The primary use of work is that of supplying the materials and aids to living completely.

1935 G. Santayana Last Puritan iv. i. 464 Oliver realised for the first time that the primary use of conversation is to satisfy the impulse to talk.

1965 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) §16 Flight crew (operating crew), those members of the aircrew whose primary concern is the operation and navigation of the aircraft and its safety in flight.

2000 M. Bakhtin in D. Lodge & N. Wood Mod. Crit. &Theory (ed. 2) vi. 124 The speech diversity within language thus has primary importance for the novel.

a. That is not subordinate to or derived from anything else; that is the source or cause of something; fundamental; original.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [adjective] > specific orders of triangulation

principal1790

secondary1790

tertiary1851

first-order1863

primary1920

1590 W. Clever Flower of Phisicke 101 The primary reason..is ioyned in propertie with fantasie, and groweth in custome both together to be bewrayed with Phisiognomy.

1617 R. Robinson Art of Pronuntiation sig. A.10b The causes of this motion and restraint are primary and secondary: the primary is spirituall, the secondary is instrumental.

1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. i. vi. 59 That order of Speech, which begins from Primary or most Universal Propositions, which are manifest of themselves, and proceeds by a perpetuall composition of Propositions into Syllogismes.

1725 I. Watts Logick i. iv. §7 They are used in a figurative or tropical Sense, when they are made to signify some things, which only bear either a Reference or a Resemblance to the primary Ideas of them.

1762 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. I. ii. 82 The emotions produced..may..be termed secondary, being occasioned either by antecedent emotions or antecedent passions, which in this respect may be termed primary.

1826 S. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 95/1 Words, in their origin, have a natural or primary sense. The accidental associations..afterwards give to that word a great number of secondary meanings.

1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) v. xxxiii. 190 The Sun..gives us the primary division of time into day and night.

1920 W. N. Thomas Surveying xiii. 382 On the Ordnance Survey the first framework of triangles set out over the country constituted the ‘Principal’ or ‘Primary’ triangulation.

1945 R. A. Knox God & Atom iii. 41 St. Thomas..distinguished God as the Primary Cause from those secondary causes to which we attribute this or that effect in our daily experience.

1994 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Sept. 62/4 Insofar as Europe is concerned, most of the current immigrants from the third world are not ‘primary’ immigrants but dependent relatives.

b. Not involving intermediate agency; immediate, first-hand; that is a direct result of something. Now chiefly in technical and specialist senses: cf. A. II.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > [adjective] > immediate or direct

immediate1533

direct1600

primary1621

proximate1641

1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 193 We call them immortall..: first by reason of their essence, which is spirituall and originarie, or primarie from God the giuer of it.

1656 R. Vines Treat. Lords-supper (1677) 279 The schoolmen distinguish between the primary and per se effects..and these that are per accidens.

1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic ix. 222 The direct or primary echoes from each reflecting surface reach the ear in succession.

1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 211 When a substance yields uncombined and unaltered at the electrodes, those bodies which have been separated by the electric current, then the results may be considered as primary.

1948 D. Dillard Econ. J. M. Keynes 184 Deposits which result directly from the lending and investing activities of individual banks..are called ‘derivative’ deposits, as distinguished from ‘primary’ deposits which result from the actual deposit of cash.

1986 Financial Times (Nexis) 30 Jan. i. 17 The direct primary welfare loss from a 30 per cent fall in the price of oil is 30 per cent of net oil exports.

c. Chiefly Botany and Anatomy. Designating a main branch of a ramifying structure, esp. the first or most important in a series of successive divisions from which all the others ultimately proceed. Cf. secondary adj. 4a.

ΚΠ

1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 676 [Polypodium aculeatum] The primary pinnæ are longest near the middle of the rib, and from thence decrease gradually towards the top and base.

1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 207 The large primary branches of the carotid artery.

1835 J. S. Henslow Princ. Bot. i. i. iii. 63 The primary nerves branch off from it on either side, throughout its whole length.

1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. i. iv. 193 When the floral axis is thus branched, it is better to speak of the main axis as the primary axis.., its divisions as the secondary axes.., and their divisions as the tertiary axes.

1905 C. S. Sargent Man. Trees N. Amer. 603 Metopium Metopium..leaflets..with..primary veins spreading at right angles, numerous reticulate veinlets, and stout petiolules.

1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) i. 14 The Brachiopoda are so well defined and sharply marked off from all other animals that they have been accorded the rank of a phylum or primary branch of the Animal Kingdom.

2003 Tissue & Cell 35 375 First appearing as a solid cord of epithelial cells that runs in the proximal-distal axis of the developing lung, progressively, the intrapulmonary primary bronchus begins to canalize.

d. Chemistry. Forming an ultimate or basic constituent of which a more complex whole is composed. Now chiefly historical.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [adjective] > of or relating to compounds > by number of contitutive elements > one

primary1802

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > [adjective] > prepared by mixing > of the first stage of compounding

primary1802

1802 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. I. 388 Compound bodies are of two kinds. Some of them are formed by the combination of two or more simple substances with each other... Others are formed by the combination of two or more compound bodies with each other... The first of these kinds of compounds I call Primary Compounds; to the second I give the name of Secondary Compounds.

1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 109 To ascertain the primary elements of the different vegetable principles, and the proportions in which they are combined.

1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Chem. 2 When two atoms of different kinds unite to form a third or compound atom,..they may be called elementary or primary atoms.

1927 Science Apr. (Suppl.) xii/2 The essential and probably the primary compound of all living matter is protein.

1989 R. Waterfield Before Eureka (BNC) 32 This is the notion of an ‘element’, originally conceived simply as a source or primary constituent and later also as an indivisible, homogeneous unit.

II. Technical and specialist senses.

4. Esp. in primary colour. Designating each of the colours from which all other colours can be derived by combining them in different proportions. Also: designating each of the seven colours of the spectrum (now historical).In terms of light the colours are now recognized as red, green, and blue; in terms of pigment, as red, yellow, and blue (black and white were formerly also included).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective]

i-liteda1225

coloureda1325

colorate?a1425

tinct1579

primary colour1612

tincted1626

tinctured1626

tinto1686

tinted1756

unpaleda1820

pigmented1822

toned1864

hued1876

1612 H. Peacham Gentlemans Exercise i. xxiii. 79 Blacke, white, and yealow according to Aristotle are the foure [sic] primary or principall colours.

1664 R. Boyle Exper. & Considerations Colours iii. xii. 219 There are but few Simple and Primary Colours (if I may so call them) from whose Various Compositions all the rest do as it were result... I have not yet found, that to exhibit this strange Variety they [sc. Printers] need imploy any more than White, and Black, and Red, and Blew, and Yellow.

1672 I. Newton in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 7 5095 That Colour is Primary or Original, which cannot by any Art be changed, and whose Rays are alike refrangible.

1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. i. §2. 75 White is vulgarly thought to be the most uncompounded of all Colours, while yet it really arises from a certain Proportion of the Seven primary Colours.

1848 R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting vi. 211 Although there are but three primitive colours, painters have nine. These are—Yellow, Red, Blue, which are primary; Orange, Purple, Green, which are secondary, being compounds of the primaries [etc.].

1876 J. Bernstein Five Senses 109 These three colours, red, green, and violet, are now received as primary colours, because they are the only three pure colours in the spectrum which, when combined, produce a nearly perfect white.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 286/2 He [sc. Kant] attaches ideals of modesty, frankness, courage, &c., to the seven primary colours of Newton's system.

1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 10 The simplest form of colour wheel is one containing the three primary colours.

1996 She Apr. 150/1 In this light and airy house, the owners began with a blank canvas—white walls, tiles and ceilings—to which they have added splashes of primary colour.

5. Astronomy. Esp. in primary planet. Designating a planet which orbits the sun, as distinguished from a secondary planet or satellite, which orbits a planet. Formerly also: †each of the three planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (obsolete). Cf. secondary adj. 3d.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > [noun]

primary planet1664

primary1703

1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iii. 163 Who can imagine that any of the primary Planets were wholly designed for the service of Us and our Earth?

1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Primary Planets (according to some) are the Three Superior Planets, viz. Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars; but more properly a Primary Planet is one that moves round the Sun, as its Centre; whereas a Secondary Planet moves round some other Planet.

1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. i. §47. 99 The Secondary Planets of Jupiter gravitate towards Jupiter..and both the Primary and Secondary Planets gravitate towards the Sun.

1814 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. II. ii. viii. 339 The elliptical motions of the planets, both primary and secondary.

1884 Zadkiel's Alm. 40 The Moon forms benefic aspects with the primary planets.

1991 Notes & Rec. Royal Soc. 45 20 A corollary to Kepler's Third Law of planetary motion..namely, that the cubes of the mean distances of the ‘primary’ planets orbiting the Sun are proportional to the squares of their periods of revolution.

6. Medicine. Of a symptom, disorder, etc.: not caused by another disease or condition. Also: designating the earliest symptoms or stage of certain chronic infectious diseases (esp. syphilis and tuberculosis). Cf. secondary adj. 5f.

ΚΠ

1670 H. Stubbe Legends No Hist. 28 He that tells me the disease [sc. sweating-sickness] is a Pestilent Feaver, and the Sweat is an effect of nature endeavouring to expell the Malignity: puts me upon some thoughts that I should not have, if I took the Sweating to be the primary disease.

1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Idiopathie, in Physick, a primary Disease.

1714 J. Browne Inst. Physick 327 From the Place affected with Repletion and Obstruction beneath the Diaphragm, especially if that Affection be primary, and nothing opposes it.

1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 293 Sometimes it is a primary disease, and at other times only a symptom of some other malady.

1800 W. Blair Ess. Venereal Dis. ii.v. 276 The symptoms of a confirmed syphilis are less easily detected and recognised than those of the primary disease.

1864 W. Aitken Sci. & Pract. Med. (ed. 3) II. iii. 67 That the ‘white-blood’ disease proceeded from a primary affection of the spleen and lymphatic glands.

1894 J. C. DaCosta Man. Mod. Surg. xv. 168 Primary syphilis is not auto-inoculable, but is hetero-inoculable.

1908 W. Osler & T. McCrae Syst. Med. IV. 679 The disease is due to a primary hyperplasia of the erythroblastic bone-marrow.

1964 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 37 885/2 Our chief interest in testing the new drug..was to determine its efficacy in cases of primary and secondary gout.

1997 Endocrinol. Jrnl. 44 367 Primary hyperparathyroidism with mild hypercalcemia is associated with psychiatric disturbances and reduced bone density.

7. Philosophy. Designating those properties (such as extension, shape, and number) which bodies necessarily have, which are found in every part of matter, and which do not vary with the forces acting upon them (this last claim is disputed by Berkeley and later philosophers). Opposed to secondary adj. 3c(b).The distinction between primary and secondary qualities is famously expounded in Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) and has been seen by modern historians of philosophy as characteristic of the ‘mechanical’ philosophy of the 17th cent.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > [adjective] > of or relating to substance > primary or secondary qualities

secondary1656

primary1671

1671 J. Locke Ess. conc. Understanding: Draft B (1931) §94. 199 Two primary qualities or properties of body, viz., extension and cohesion of parts, we perfectly know and have distinct, clear ideas of.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. viii. 56 We may..observe these primary ones [sc. qualities] in Bodies, that produce simple Ideas in us, viz. Solidity, Extension, Motion or Rest, Number and figure.

1713 G. Berkeley Three Dialogues Hylas & Philonous 13 Men are more easily weaned from believing the eternal Existence of the Secondary, than the Primary Qualities.

1782 J. Balfour Philos. Diss. 177 With regard to matter, the primary qualities which we discover by our senses are, extension, divisibility, and solidity.

1810 D. Stewart Philos. Ess. i. ii. ii. 95 The line which I would draw between primary and secondary qualities is this; that the former necessarily involve the notion of extension, and consequently of externality or outness.

1856 J. F. Ferrier Inst. Metaphysic (ed. 2) v. v. 148 It is through our perceptions, and not through our sensations, that we are made acquainted with the primary qualities of matter.

1912 W. James Ess. Radical Empiricism v. 147 Even the primary qualities are undergoing the same fate. Hardness and softness are effects on us of atomic interactions.

1949 A. Pap Elem. Analyt. Philos. vii. 128 The only legitimate distinction between ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ qualities is that between measurable qualities..and non-measurable qualities.

1997 D. Park Fire within Eye ii. 37 Atoms..have only what are called primary qualities, in this case those appropriate to a particle: size, shape, position, and motion, perhaps weight, but nothing more.

8. Politics (esp. U.S.). Designating an election, meeting, etc., at which a preliminary selection of delegates or of candidates for office takes place; esp. in primary election. Cf. sense B. 7.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > selection of candidates > meeting for preliminary selection > an election at

primary election1789

1789 Times 25 Nov. 2/3 The primary assemblies shall choose their electors from among citizens of their own departments.

1801 Spirit of Farmers' Museum 61 The Editor of the Gazette of the United States..notices the ‘Primary Assemblies’ of our towns.

1821 Massachusetts Spy 11 Apr. 3/3 This was all the hocus-pocus of a primary caucus.

1829 Niles' Reg. 36 363/2 The battle is in reality fought in the primary meetings, and not on the day appointed by law for the election.

1835 C. P. Bradley Biogr. Isaac Hill 54 The freemen of the State were called upon to give at their primary elections, an expression of their opinion.

1885 Cent. Mag. Apr. 825 Nine out of ten of our wealthy and educated men..are really ignorant of the nature of a caucus, or a primary meeting, and never attend either.

1961 Atlanta Constit. 4 Nov. 1 An investigation of Atlanta's recent primary election produced ‘no evidence’ that any irregularities took place.

2002 Nation (N.Y.) 11 Nov. 16/2 In this year's Oklahoma primary election, an electrical worker..with intensive union support..routed..a leading promoter of the hated right-to-work statute.

9. Education. Designating a school, pupil, or educational system of the first or elementary level; of or relating to primary education.Recorded earliest in primary school n. at Compounds.See also primary age n., primary education n., primary instruction n., primary scholar n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > child > [adjective]

smalla1325

impuberala1856

impubic1876

impuberate1880

primary age1893

primary1908

preadolescent1910

subadolescent1910

subteenage1939

rising fives1968

1792 Times 20 Dec. 3/3 In a discussion relative to the Primary Schools, Dupont exclaimed—I will confess that I am an Atheist.

1839 A. D. Bache Rep. Educ. in Europe in N. Amer. Rev. (1840) July 40 Some of the schools for primary teachers in Prussia, France, Holland, and Switzerland.

1873 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 519/1 One of the most hopeful characteristics of modern primary teaching..is..a tendency to exalt right habits of learning over recitable results.

1908 A. Ruhl Other Americans x. 173 In the gymnasium four little primary girls were imitating..the gestures of the elocution teacher.

1940 Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 7 Aug. 7/6 All heard fairy tales read to them profusely..through the primary grades.

1979 F. Iyayi Violence xxi. 291 It was the village she had left many years ago after completing her primary schooling to marry Obofun.

2002 Times Educ. Suppl. 27 Sept. (Going Places) 19/4 Coach parties of senior citizens..express the same wonderment and excitement as the primary pupils.

10. Medicine. Of a neoplasm: located in the organ or tissue of origin (esp. as opposed to being metastatic). Cf. secondary n. 13.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [adjective] > tumour > other tumours

sublated1647

polypous1684

polypose1722

extravasate1728

flatulent1730

primary1793

mammary1804

osteosarcomatous1825

polypoid1827

carcinoid1830

homoeomorphous1832

melanoid1839

polypiform1846

tyromatous1848

non-malignant1852

extravasated1853

adenomatous1863

histioid1864

histoid1865

myxomatous1872

small-cell1872

lymphadenomatous1873

polypoidal1873

lymphomatous1876

myomatous1876

lympho-sarcomatous1880

haematomatous1886

fibro-lipomatous1889

teratomatous1891

mixed1892

fibro-adenomatous1894

psammomatous1897

tunnelled1898

mycosic1899

radioresistant1922

melanomatous1943

sarcoid-like1943

paragangliomatous1965

oncofetal1972

1793 J. Pearson Pract. Observ. Cancerous Complaints 5 I have never yet met with an unequivocal proof of a primary Scirrhus in an absorbent gland.

1844 Lancet 21 Feb. 735/2 Seven or eight cases of primary malignant disease of the lungs had come under his notice.

1880 H. Osgood in tr. H. W. von Ziemssen Cycl. Pract. Med. IX. 344 Under the name of primary melanotic endothelioma of the liver, Block recently described a case of diffuse or infiltrated pigment cancer.

1923 Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 11 317 Carcinoma in the breast, with which Paget's disease of the nipple is usually associated, is a primary carcinoma of the breast epithelium.

1986 Cancer 57 1350 The findings..could be very useful for differentiating whether such a tumor is primary or metastatic.

2000 J. Mann Murder, Magic, & Med. (rev. ed.) iv. 232 More insidious they also have the propensity to break away from their primary growth site (primary tumour) and metastasize to other sites, where they produce secondary tumours.

11. Geology. Originally: designating rocks believed to have been formed before the appearance of life on the earth; = primitive adj. 8. In later use also (in form Primary): = Palaeozoic adj. 1 (now rare). Cf. secondary adj. 5b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [adjective] > pre-Cambrian

primitive1779

primordial1794

primary1795

Protozoic1838

prozoic1845

Cryptozoic1911

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [adjective] > primary or Palaeozoic

primal1858

primordial1859

primary1871

1795 J. Hutton Theory Earth I. 421 The Theory of interchanging Sea and Land illustrated by an Investigation of the Primary and Secondary Strata.

1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iv. 168 Rocks are generally divided by geologists into two grand divisions, distinguished by the names of primary and secondary... The primary rocks are composed of pure crystalline matter, and contain no fragments of other rocks.

1854 D. Brewster More Worlds iii. 44 The Primary formations consist of granite rocks, trap, syenite, and porphyry.

1871 C. Lyell Student's Elem. Geol. (1884) viii. 105 Tabular view of the Fossiliferous Strata..Post-Tertiary..Tertiary or Cainozoic..Secondary or Mesozoic..Primary or Palæozoic.

1871 C. Lyell Student's Elem. Geol. xxiii. 344 The..Permian rocks are more connected with the Primary or Palæozoic than with the Secondary or Mesozoic strata.

1921 A. L. Guerard French Civilization iii. 44 The geological map of France offers two great tertiary basins, the Aquitanian and the Parisian, all but separated by two great masses of primary rocks, Armorica and the Central Mountains.

1958 A. S. Romer in S. A. Barnett Century of Darwin vi. 140 The older ‘Secondary’ rocks contain a quite distinct type of life, in which mammals were absent and reptiles were prominent; still further back were ‘Primary’ rocks in which land animals were absent and older creations of invertebrates and fishes constituted the faunas.

1968 R. J. H. Church West Afr. ii. 14 Gently folded or unfolded Primary rocks, which have been strongly dissected, are responsible for the impressive relief of much of the Fouta Djallon of Guinea.

12. Grammar. Designating any of various tenses or moods used in the narration of present or future events, esp. the Latin and Greek present, future, and future perfect, as well as the Latin perfect when used with reference to completed action (rather than with an aorist sense). Opposed to secondary adj. and n. Additions, historic adj. 4.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > other specific tenses

primary1813

principal1818

prospective1893

past future1904

expanded1931

1813 G. Dunbar Anal. Formation Radical Tenses Greek Verb 40 The system which Grammarians have all along adopted, with regard to the primary and secondary tenses as they have been absurdly denominated, has led them to form by analogy, tenses of certain verbs, which I firmly believe were never in existence in the Greek language.

1844 A. Crosby Gram. Greek Lang. i. v. 417 In complementary sentences, where doubt is expressed, and a primary tense precedes, the subjunctive is sometimes used.

1871 B. H. Kennedy Public School Lat. Gram. §195 The General Rule is: Primary Tenses in the Principal Sentence are followed by Primary Tenses in the Clause: Historic by Historic.

1913 J. E. Sandys Compan. to Lat. Stud. (ed. 2) x. 823 As a rule he begins with a subordinate clause in a secondary tense and follows it up by another with a primary tense.

1964 German Q. 37 338 In dealing with the verb, the primary tenses, then the secondary are treated.

2007 G. Betts & D. Franklin Beginning Lat. Poetry Reader 252 A primary tense in the main verb..is followed by a primary tense of the subjunctive; a secondary tense in the main verb..is followed by a historic tense of the subjunctive.

†13. Crystallography. = primitive adj. 10. Cf. secondary adj. 3i. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > structures and forms > [adjective] > miscellaneous other

primitive1807

subtractive1807

based1810

emarginated1816

planoconvex1816

primary1823

hemisystematic1878

face-centred1913

body-centred1918

mosaic1934

1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 75 These secondary molecules would consist of certain numbers of primary ones arranged in the same order as they would be in the production of the entire secondary crystals.

1833 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 1815–30 2 228 Having given the plane, or dihedral angles of any crystal, and its primary form, we can..deduce the laws of decrement according to which it is constituted.

1851 G. F. Richardson Geol. (1855) v. 85 We can invariably, by a careful dissection of the crystal, extract from it a nucleus which has constantly the same form in the same mineral species... Such a nucleus is called a primary form.

14.

a. Originally (of an electric current): †supplied directly by a cell or battery, as opposed to being induced (obsolete). Now, with reference to a transformer or other device utilizing induction: of, relating to, or carrying the input electrical power. Cf. secondary adj. 3j(a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > [adjective] > primary

primary1835

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > transformer > [adjective] > carrying input

primary1896

1835 M. Faraday in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 125 48 The conducting power of the connecting system A B D was sufficient to carry all the primary current.

1837 M. Faraday in Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 1 177 These experiments establishing..a distinction between the primary or generating current and the extra current, led me to conclude that the latter was identical with the induced current described..in the first series of these researches.

1857 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 20 Feb. 206/1 The effect of the passage of the voltaic current through the primary coil is to develop magnetism.

1896 F. Bedell Princ. Transformer i. 3 The primary electromotive force..is equal to the product of the number of primary turns, and the rate at which the magnetic flux in the magnetic circuit is changing.

1929 A. T. Dover Electr. Traction (ed. 2) x. 281 The primary winding..has tappings to give 1000, 800, and 220 volts.

1938 R. M. Kerchner & G. F. Corcoran Alternating-Current Circuits vii. 193 The primary current could thus be made to lead or lag the primary voltage by adjusting the degree of coupling between the two transformer windings.

1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 1082/1 Toroidal transformers with two independent primary windings which may be connected in series for 240 V operation or parallel for 120 V operation.

b. Of a cell or battery: generating electricity by an irreversible chemical reaction, and therefore unable to store electrical energy supplied to it. Cf. secondary adj. 3j(b).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > voltaic or galvanic battery > [adjective] > not capable of storage

primary1874

1874 Scribner's Monthly May 123/1 If after a time the Bunsen battery is discontinued, and the wires of the secondary battery are brought into communication, a powerful current passes for some minutes; the apparatus acting as a sort of condensor to store up the electricity produced by the primary battery.

1882 Engineer 19 May 365/2 The distinction between a primary and a secondary battery is in no sense an important one when we are considering either as the producer of a current.

1922 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 59/2 Polarisation is one of the difficulties encountered in all primary cells.

1971 H. A. Romanowitz Introd. Electr. Circuits ii. 36 The wet cells and dry cells just described, which are not rechargeable, are classified as primary cells.

1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 8/1 A range of popular sizes of primary (non-rechargeable) button cells suitable for use in calculators, cameras, clocks, watches, etc.

15. Ornithology. Designating any of the large flight feathers of a bird's wing, growing from the manus. Also: designating any of the smaller feathers (coverts) that cover the bases of these Cf. secondary adj. 6a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > having wings > having feathers on > relating to particular feathers

prime1637

primary1839

tertiary1858

remigial1879

tectricial1891

1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. vii. 162 When these birds [sc. Scissor-beaks] are fishing, the length of the primary feathers of the wings is seen to be quite necessary, in order to keep the latter dry.

1894–5 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. III. 343 Starlings..all agree in possessing a wing with five primary quills, and twelve tail-feathers.

1939 T. L. Green Pract. Animal Biol. i. 187 Quill feathers..are large and consist of two types, a. Remiges or wing-quills in which the two halves of the vane are of unequal width, and which can be further divided into primary quills attached to the bones of the manus and secondary quills attached to the ulna.

1987 E. W. Burr Compan. Bird Med. xxvi. 175/2 The functional clip consists of clipping the first six to eleven primary flight feathers, up to or just under the primary coverts.

1990 Compl. Angler's Guide Spring 20/3 Many fly dressers..practise producing wings with grey duck primary quills.

16. Biology. Belonging to or directly derived from the first stage of development or growth, and (often) forming the foundation of the subsequent structure (cf. sense A. 3a). Cf. primitive adj. 7b, secondary adj. 5c.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [adjective] > growth > stages of

primordial1786

primitive1833

primary1844

secondary1857

1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. i. 34 This membrane is termed the basement or primary membrane.

1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 165 In no system of the skeleton are bones a primary formation of the animal: they are the result of transmutations of pre-existing tissues.

1885 G. L. Goodale in A. Gray & G. L. Goodale Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 6) II. i. iii. 119 The primary cortex consists essentially of parenchyma in which isolated cells of a peculiar character may often be found.

1914 M. Drummond tr. G. Haberlandt Physiol. Plant Anat. i. 61 More often..it [sc. the middle lamella] also comprises the primary thickening layers.

1953 K. Esau Plant Anat. iv. 77 If these cells [that give origin to the meristem] are the direct descendants of the embryonic cells..the meristems are called primary.

1960 D. C. Braungart & R. Buddeke Introd. Animal Biol. (ed. 5) v. 67 The three cell layers of an embryo, the ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm, are called the three primary germ layers, because from fundaments derived from one or the other of these three layers of cells or from combinations of two or more of them all tissues and organs of the adult animal are developed.

1995 P. F. S. Cornelius et al. in P. J. Hayward & J. S. Ryland Handbk. Marine Fauna N.W. Europe iv. 70/2 Hydrozoans are typified by sessile polyp and free-swimming medusa generations in the life cycle... The planula settles and develops into a primary polyp from which a new colony grows, completing the life cycle.

17. In the context of academic research or writing: designating source material contemporary with the period or thing studied; designating an original document, source, or text rather than one of criticism, discussion, or summary.

ΚΠ

1844 Foreign Q. Rev. Jan. 350 If the primary evidence be wanting—if the original deed be lost or destroyed, we must have recourse to secondary evidence.

1898 Amer. Hist. Rev. 3 385 They are not mere studies from secondary authorities..but contain ample evidence of serious work among the best primary sources.

1936 F. N. House Devel. Sociol. x. 115 So involved and voluminous are Comte's own works..that such a competent analysis and summary is more serviceable to the average student than are the primary texts.

1969 Listener 1 May 594/1 Old newsreels, live film..of men and events—home movies, for that matter—are primary sources.

2003 M. Byrnes in A. H. Sturgis Presidents from Hayes through McKinley Foreword p. ix The series combines description and analysis of those issues with excerpts from primary documents that illustrate the position of the presidents and their opponents.

18. Chemistry.

a. Designating hydrocarbons regarded as the fundamental units from which all organic compounds can be derived by substitution. Cf. A. 3d. Now historical.

ΚΠ

1852 H. Watts tr. L. Gmelin Hand-bk. Chem. VII. 18 If the nuclei contain nothing but hydrogen in addition to the carbon, they are called Primary Nuclei [Ger. Stammkerne].

1907 J. B. Cohen Org. Chem. Adv. Students I. i. 18 Laurent assumed that every organic compound contained a hydrocarbon nucleus or radical. These were the primary nuclei (noyaux fondamentaux) and were so chosen that the elements composing them were present in even numbers.

1929 L. A. Coles Introd. Mod. Org. Chem. xxxvi. 426 Laurent..regarded organic compounds as derived from hydrocarbons or ‘primary radicals’, from which ‘secondary radicals’..were derived by substitution.

b. Originally: †designating compounds regarded as being derived from any of four molecules (water, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen), by replacement of one hydrogen atom by an organic radical (obsolete). In later use: designating ammonia derivatives and, in extended use, analogous derivatives of other elements, esp. phosphorus, in which one hydrogen atom has been replaced by an organic radical. Cf. secondary adj. 3l(a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [adjective] > of or relating to compounds > derived from H2O, HCl, H or esp. NH3

primary1854

1854 Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 6 195 The amides thus produced, which we shall call primary amides, represent a molecule of ammonia in which 1 atom of hydrogen is replaced by the negative radicals.

1888 C. L. Bloxam Chem. (ed. 6) 586 The amides, like the amines..may be primary, secondary, or tertiary accordingly as one, two, or three atoms of H in the NH₃ group has been replaced.

1889 G. M'Gowan tr. A. Bernthsen Text-bk. Org. Chem. 119 Just as amines are derived from ammonia, so from phosphuretted hydrogen, PH₃, are derived primary, secondary, and tertiary phosphines by the exchange of hydrogen for alcoholic radicals.

1965 Nomencl. Org. Chem. (I.U.P.A.C.) C. 176 The generic name ‘amine’ is applied to compounds NH₂R, NHR¹R², and NR¹R²R³, which are called primary, secondary, and tertiary amines, respectively.

1982 G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman Chem. in Context: Lab. Man. & Study Guide 114/2 The simplest primary amines are CH₃NH₂, methylamine, and CH₃CH₂NH₂, ethylamine.

c. Of an alcohol or other organic compound: having the characteristic functional group located on a saturated carbon atom which is itself bonded to not more than one other carbon atom. Cf. secondary adj. 3l(b), tertiary adj. 1b(a).For amines, etc., see sense A. 18b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > [adjective] > organic structure

primary1864

quaternary1871

vicinal1898

secondary1903

tertiary1903

the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > [adjective] > organic structure > organic compound structure

primary1864

secondary1864

tertiary1872

1864 Chem. News 26 Nov. 260/1 Primary alcohol.

1888 H. F. Morley & M. M. P. Muir Watts' Dict. Chem. (rev. ed.) I. 100/1 In the primary alcohols the carbon-atom joined to the hydroxyl is connected immediately with only one other carbon atom.

1929 L. A. Coles Introd. Mod. Org. Chem. xii. 140 Methyl and ethyl alcohol are the two most important members of the primary alcohol series.

1968 J. March Adv. Org. Chem. ix. 866 Primary alcohols or aldehydes can be converted directly to nitriles by air oxidation in the presence of ammonia, a strong base..and a copper complex.

1993 Jrnl. Physical Chem. 97 653/1 The subsequent reactions of the primary aldehyde (propionaldehyde)..are believed to proceed through a surface enolate intermediate.

d. Designating or involving a saturated carbon atom in an organic compound which is bonded to only one other carbon atom, the other bonds being to hydrogen atoms or functional groups. Also (of an ion or a free radical): having (respectively) the electric charge or the unpaired electron located on a primary carbon atom. Cf. secondary adj. 3l(c), tertiary adj. 1b(c).

ΚΠ

1902 J. B. Cohen Theoret. Org. Chem. vi. 81 When the halogen is attached to an end carbon atom, or is present in a group, ·CH₂X, the group is called a primary group.

1926 H. G. Rule tr. J. Schmidt Text-bk. Org. Chem. 70 When a carbon atom is combined in such a manner that only one of its four valencies is satisfied by carbon, it is termed a primary carbon atom.

1968 J. March Adv. Org. Chem. ix. 866 Primary amines at a primary carbon can be dehydrogenated to nitriles.

1972 R. O. C. Norman & D. J. Waddington Mod. Org. Chem. ix. 116 A tertiary carbonium ion is a relatively more stable species than a primary carbonium ion..and is formed much faster.

1987 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 109 2176/2 Initial ionization occurred cleanly at the primary carbon.

19. Biology. Designating sexual characteristics and organs (esp. testes and ovaries) that are essential to reproduction and are determined directly by the genetic sex, usually without hormonal intervention. Cf. secondary adj. 3n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > sex organs > [adjective]

privyc1325

pudendal1772

pudical1787

pudic1795

sexual1825

copulatory1836

copulative1855

primary1871

perigenital1953

1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man I. viii. 253 With animals which have their sexes separated, the males necessarily differ from the females in their organs of reproduction; and these are the primary sexual characters.

1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man I. viii. 254 Unless..we confine the term ‘primary’ to the reproductive glands, it is scarcely possible to decide which ought to be called primary and which secondary.

1894 H. Ellis Man & Woman ii. 18 When we are dealing with Man it is perhaps most convenient to set aside as primary the sexual glands..and the organs for emission and reception in immediate connection with these glands.

1926 J. R. Baker Sex in Man & Animals ii. 26 The primary sexual characters are..the testes and ovaries. The accessory sexual characters are the obviously useful sex characters other than the testes and ovaries, such as the vas deferens..and the vagina... The secondary sexual characters are those which seem not to be directly concerned in reproduction, such as beards, antlers, and crests.

1977 E. J. Trimmer et al. Visual Dict. Sex (1978) xxii. 262/1 A boy castrated before puberty will fail to develop the primary and secondary sexual characteristics of a normal male.

1999 J. Burchill Married Alive x. 153 Matthew Miller is a screaming old slapper who would wedge his primary sex organ into a Jenga tower if the opening looked reasonably solid.

20. Economics. In a developed economy: designating or relating to the obtaining of natural resources in industries such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining, for use in manufacturing or for retail.

ΚΠ

1876 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. London 39 735 There are 1,925,000 classed as farmers and proprietors, and 3,087,039 as labourers, engaged in ‘primary production’.

1921 H. Hoover in E. M. House & C. Seymour What really happened at Paris xiv. 342 Each nation should contribute its share of shipping to be devoted to the movement of primary commodities such as food and coal.

1930 Economist 8 Feb. 290/1 Our exporting manufacturers will be faced with lessened purchasing power in the hands of primary producers overseas.

1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 3/1 The basis of New Zealand's economic standards is the country's primary industries.

1974 M. B. Brown Econ. of Imperialism iv. 94 The extraction by the United States and by other developed countries of minerals and primary products from the whole world would not be regarded by classical economists as any sort of plunder.

2002 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 61 1269 In 1978, 42 percent of Chaozhou's economic output came from the primary sector.

21. Geology. (Of a mineral) that is an original constituent of the rock containing it; (of a rock) whose constituents are newly formed particles that have undergone no alteration since formation; spec. designating a mineral or rock that has crystallized from magma and undergone no subsequent alteration. Cf. secondary adj. 3o.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > [adjective] > original or non-original

primary1886

allogenic1888

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [adjective] > primary or hypogene

hypogene1833

nether-formed1833

protogenic1877

primary1886

1886 J. Geikie Outl. Geol. xiii. 151 It is the primary or original constituents of a rock which ought to determine its species, but these are often replaced by secondary minerals, and thus it is not in all cases possible to say what were the primary minerals.

1921 Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. 24 116 In some varieties..a titaniferous lime-iron garnet comes in, together with primary calcite.

1931 A. Johannsen Descr. Petrogr. Igneous Rocks I. ii. 28 The primary minerals of the igneous rocks are comparatively few in number.

1971 B. W. Sparks Rocks & Relief iv. 132 A relatively small class of primary calcareous rocks, known as carbonatites, are [sic] associated in some areas with alkaline igneous rocks.

1993 Jrnl. Petrol. 34 472 It contains large cores of fibrous cummingtonite that apparently replaced primary orthopyroxene.

22. Physics and Astronomy. Of, relating to, or designating radiation (esp. in the form of particles) that is not produced by other radiation but which may itself produce other radiation; (of cosmic rays) originating outside the earth's atmosphere. Cf. secondary adj. 3q.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > ionizing radiation > [adjective] > relating to cosmic radiation

primary1900

1900 J. S. Townsend in Proc. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 10 218 The apparatus shown..was used to determine the relative intensities of the secondary radiations given out by different bodies, and the intensity of the secondary radiation compared with that of the primary radiation which excites it.

1921 J. Scott-Taggart Thermionic Tubes i. 23 When the primary or original electron attains a velocity sufficiently high to break off electrons from the gas molecule, it will leave the latter positively charged.

1944 Ann. Reg. 1943 361 Results which they regarded as..confirming that the main part of the primary cosmic ray radiation does not consist of electrons.

1946 Electronic Engin. 18 75/1 An electrode will emit primary electrons when its temperature is raised sufficiently to overcome the work function of the material of which it is made.

2002 F. Close et al. Particle Odyssey v. 73 Collisions between primary cosmic rays and the upper atmosphere produce positive, negative, and neutral pions in vast numbers.

23. Linguistics. In phonology: designating the principal stress in a word or sentence.

ΚΠ

1901 M. B. Smith tr. B. ten Brink Lang. & Metre of Chaucer i. 3 In these cases the simple accent becomes differentiated into a primary stress [Ger. Hauptton] and a weaker, secondary stress; cf. mártyrdoòm.

1951 G. L. Trager & H. L. Smith Outl. Eng. Struct. i. 36 There must be a stress phoneme whose characteristic is maximum normal loudness, which we may call primary stress.

1972 Language 48 328 In simple declarative sentences ending in a predicate, primary stress is often most naturally placed on the subject.

1996 Eng. Today 12 47/2 When pronounced in isolation or out of context..a word like relativity, for example, would have two stressed syllables... Those who recognize the primary/secondary distinction would say that the first syllable has secondary stress and the third has primary stress.

24. Ecology.

a. Of a plant succession or sequence of changes in the vegetation of an area: taking place on a site not previously colonized. Cf. secondary adj. 5i.

ΚΠ

1905 F. E. Clements Res. Methods Ecol. iv. 241 Primary successions..arise on newly formed soils, or upon surfaces exposed for the first time, which have in consequence never borne vegetation before.

1911 A. G. Tansley Types Brit. Vegetation Intr. 9 In the normal primary development of a formation..the associations involved show intimate relations and transitions one to another.

1952 P. W. Richards Trop. Rain Forest xii. 269 The successions or seres leading to the establishment of stable climax Rain forest are classified..into primary successions or priseres starting on soil not previously occupied by plants.

1973 P. A. Colinvaux Introd. Ecol. vi. 77 The successions so far discussed are all primary successions, that is to say they are supposed to proceed by pioneering new sites.

b. Esp. in primary forest. Designating forest or woodland that has remained relatively undisturbed by human activity; (also) designating an area that has been continuously wooded since ancient times.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [adjective] > wooded > types of

bushya1382

ramagea1500

boskya1616

brakya1637

brushy1658

brushed1666

scrubbya1687

pine barrenc1721

bush-grown1837

stumpy1838

bush-skirted1858

bushed1868

bush-covered1873

bush-fringed1891

bush-clad1909

primary forest1909

1909 Geogr. Jrnl. 34 682 Very definite conclusions as to the prospects of forest-exploitation are not yet possible, but the opinion is expressed that it is only the primary forest which would repay systematic attempts at conservation.

1952 P. W. Richards Trop. Rain Forest ii. 29 It seems likely that this forest has suffered disturbance in the past and is old secondary rather than truly primary.

1996 Independent (Nexis) 20 Apr. 13 A measly (by comparison) 300,000 hectares is ancient, or primary, woodland, such as can be seen in Hatfield Forest in Essex.

2004 Guardian (Nexis) 18 Mar. 5 After exhausting most of Indonesia's primary rainforests, illegal loggers have turned to national parks.

25. Esp. in primary air. Designating air admitted to the fuel in a burner or furnace at or before the earliest stage of combustion. Cf. secondary adj. 3w.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > gas > air > [noun] > specific air > admitted to fuel in furnace

primary air1915

1915 Proc. Royal Soc. 1914–15 A. 91 245 A typical modern gas fire consists of a series of atmospheric burner nozzles..arranged equidistantly along a common horizontal supply pipe provided with a suitable means for properly adjusting the relative gas and primary air supplies.

1931 Engineering 9 Jan. 39/3 The primary air and coal enter at the side of the burner through a long, narrow port.

2000 P. W. B. Semmens & A. J. Goldfinch How Steam Locomotives really Work ii. 33 The fireman can control the amount of primary air entering the bottom of the firebox by means of dampers.

26. Seismology. Esp. in primary wave. Designating an earthquake P wave. Cf. secondary adj. 3u.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > convulsion > [adjective] > earthquake

terremotive1837

seismic1858

seismical1869

earthquaking1881

seismotic1889

principal1899

macroseismic1903

primary wave1919

seismal1977

1912 Nature 5 Sept. 4/2 The usual seismographic record shows three chief groups of disturbances, due respectively to the longitudinal and transverse waves through the core..and to the superficial waves round the crust. These..are complicated and supplemented by reflections of the deep waves at the surface, and sometimes by twin earthquakes caused by the primary.]

1919 Proc. Royal Soc. Edinb. 39 161 Tables familiar to all seismologists, in which times of transit of the primary and secondary waves are expressed in terms of the arcual distances of the stations of observation from the..epicentre.

1968 R. A. Lyttleton Myst. Solar Syst. ii. 56 The velocity of the primary waves..is always essentially faster than that of the secondary waves.

1992 Pixel Mar. 20/1 Earthquakes generate various kinds of waves, including P, S and surface waves. P-waves are the initial primary sound waves.

27. Medicine. Designating or relating to health care provided in the community, esp. by the staff of a general practice, for routine patient care and for those making an initial approach for medical advice or treatment. Frequently in primary care. Cf. secondary adj.

ΚΠ

1920 Times 24 May 10/3 The establishment of what have been called primary health centres throughout every country.

1967 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 19 Oct. 848/1 Primary medical care..refers to first-contact care.

1967 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 19 Oct. 848/1 Primary care does not have to be provided by physicians, but it should probably be supervised and monitored by them.

1999 G. Cannon in G. Tansey & J. D'Silva Meat Business xi. 115 The economic benefits of primary health care, including prevention and screening for cancer.

28. Ecology. Designating an organism in a particular community which is either a producer, or belongs to the lowest trophic level among the consumers of the community; of or relating to such an organism.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > balance of nature > organisms in relation to habitat > [adjective]

fieldya1382

waterya1382

agrestial1608

subterranean1638

lucifugous1654

nemoral1656

subcutaneous1664

subterraneous1832

subtidal1852

xylophilous1862

xerophilous1863

acid-loving1870

aerobic1878

aerobian1879

aerobious1879

aerobiotic1880

subaquatic1880

aerophilous1885

facultative1887

pelagic1887

aerophile1888

autotrophic1893

heterotrophic1893

plastic1893

thermophilic1894

thermophil1896

mesophilic1897

halolimnic1898

polybathic1898

tolerant1898

limnetic1899

thermophilous1899

metatrophic1900

mixotrophic1900

paratrophic1900

mesophilous1901

benthic1902

epibenthic1902

eurybathic1902

microaerophilic1903

sympatric1904

benthoal1905

cryophile1907

benthonic1909

microaerophile1909

lenitic1916

lotic1916

psychrotolerant1924

oligosaprobic1925

polysaprobic1925

aerophilic1929

saprobic1932

primary1934

lentic1935

chemoautotrophic1936

eurytopic1937

psammic1938

saprotrophic1942

prototrophic1946

chemolithoautotrophic1949

auxotrophic1950

chemolithotrophic1953

chemoorganotrophic1953

opportunist1956

psychrophile1956

psychrophilic1958

opportunistic1960

psychrotrophic1960

oligosaprobe1990

1893 W. K. Brooks in Mem. Biol. Lab. Johns Hopkins Univ. 2 148 A few forms are so predominant that..we may regard the great primary food-supply as made up of two simple protozoa, Globigerina and the Radiolarians, and some five or six unicellular plants.]

1934 Q. Rev. Biol. 9 163/1 In connection with..his phrase (‘primary food supply’) which I have undertaken to use, Brooks gives..a meaning somewhat more comprehensive than that which I prefer... It suits my purpose better to confine the usage to the microscopic plants equipped with chlorophyll and capable of manufacturing carbohydrates from raw materials.

1953 E. P. Odum Fund. Ecol. iv. 82 In speaking of productivity, it is important to distinguish between the basic or primary productivity..and consumer or secondary productivity.

1976 S. B. Chapman in Methods in Plant Ecol. iv. 161 Primary production is the production of organic matter by photosynthesis.

1993 E. N. K. Clarkson Invertebr. Palaeontol. & Evol. (ed. 3) i. 14/2 Small planktic animals are the primary consumers (herbivores and detritus eaters); there are secondary (carnivores) and tertiary consumers (top carnivores) in turn.

29. Psychology. Relating to abilities or traits which appear basic to other aspects of intelligence or personality.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of personality > testing of personality > [adjective] > relating to basic traits

primary1936

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > test of mental ability > factor analysis > [adjective] > revealed as basic attributes

primary1936

1936 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 48 680 Factor analysis has again and again revealed similar lists of primary abilities, including such factors as verbality, numerical ability, space perception, retentivity, mental speed, and the like.

1958 K. Lovell Educ. Psychol. & Children iii. 58 Thurstone has termed these primary mental abilities and claims that they are found both in very young children and in adults.

1970 L. J. Bischof Interpreting Personality Theories (ed. 2) vi. xii. 464 In his current work, Cattell calls the source traits Primary Personality Factors. With few exceptions, the Primary Personality Factors are bipolar or dichotomized.

1995 P. A. Tyler in C. Hollin Contemp. Psychol. vi. 111 It has been of enormous interest to psychologists in this field to know how many ‘primary’ personality characteristics there are, and these psychologists have disagreed dramatically over the proposed number.

2001 A. M. Colman Dict. Psychol. 581/2 Primary mental abilities..are labelled verbal comprehension (V), word fluency (W), number (N), spatial ability (S), associative memory (M), perceptual speed (P), and reasoning (R) or induction (I).

30. Esp. in primary radar. Designating radar in which the transmitted signal is reflected by the target (in contrast to secondary radar, in which receipt of the transmitted signal by the target triggers the generation of a return signal). Cf. secondary adj. 3x.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [adjective] > radar > types of

sideways-looking1832

primary radar1945

shoran1946

passive1954

monopulse1955

back scatter1957

monostatic1957

side-looking1959

side scan1961

lookdown1968

1945 R. Watson-Watt in Nature 15 Sept. 323/2 Primary radar is that form of radar which ‘does not require the co-operation of the object to be located’.

1960 T. J. Morgan Radar xii. 137 The measurement of the wind direction and velocity was carried out by means of direction finding stations, then later by primary radar.

2004 9/11 Comm. Rep. (National Comm. Terrorist Attacks U.S.) i. 29 At 9:41, Cleveland Center lost United 93's transponder signal. The controller located it on primary radar, matched its position with visual sightings from other aircraft, and tracked the flight as it turned east, then south.

B. n.

1. A person who or thing which is first in order, rank, or importance; anything from which something else arises or is derived; a first principle. Usually in plural. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun]

welleOE

mothereOE

ordeOE

wellspringeOE

fathereOE

headeOE

oreOE

wellspringOE

rootc1175

morea1200

beginningc1200

head wella1325

sourcec1374

principlea1382

risinga1382

springinga1382

fountain14..

springerc1410

nativity?a1425

racinea1425

spring1435

headspring?a1439

seminaryc1440

originationc1443

spring wellc1450

sourdre1477

primordialc1487

naissance1490

wellhead?1492

offspringa1500

conduit-head1517

damc1540

springhead1547

principium1550

mint1555

principal1555

centre1557

head fountain1563

parentage1581

rise1589

spawna1591

fount1594

parent1597

taproot1601

origin1604

fountainhead1606

radix1607

springa1616

abundary1622

rist1622

primitive1628

primary1632

land-spring1642

extraction1655

upstart1669

progenerator1692

fontala1711

well-eye1826

first birth1838

ancestry1880

Quelle1893

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical reasoning > [noun] > deductivism or a priori reasoning > axioms

philosophia prima1605

outlines1691

basis1796

primordial1813

generalia1843

prima philosophia1845

primary1846

axiomatic1927

1632 H. Reynolds Mythomystes 41 He should neither commit [the interpretation of the Law] to letters nor diuulge; but he to Iosua only and Iosua to the other succeeding primaries among the Priests.

1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 60 Intellection likewise, must be two-fold, one of Primaries, the other of Secondaries.

1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 144 Where any secondary agents attempt to defeat the power of their primaries.

1846 G. S. Faber Lett. Tractarian Secession Popery 248 Though there may be occasional disagreement in subordinates, there is a very singular and a very striking agreement in primaries.

1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith Introd. §5. 13 Every science..begins with primaries or with ultimates.

1987 G. Bear Forge of God (1988) 90 Perhaps the Guest's people..had advanced to the point of purity: only the primaries, the smart folks, left alive.

2. Astronomy. A primary planet (cf. sense A. 5).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > [noun]

primary planet1664

primary1703

1703 Philos. Trans. 1702–3 (Royal Soc.) 23 1313 All the Secundary Planets in turning round their Primary, are kept in their Orbits by the force of gravity, whose direction is towards the Centres of their respective Primaries.

1734 tr. P. L. M. de Maupertuis Diss. Cœlestial Bodies 33 in J. Keill Exam. Burnet's Theory of Earth (ed. 2) We see that the Sun attracting the Planets, is the Cause why they move round him, as the attraction of the Primaries confines their Secondaries.

1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) iii. x. 58 The only satellite which takes a longer time to revolve round its primary than our Moon, is Iapetus, the eighth satellite of Saturn.

1920 Discovery May 136/2 While a satellite in a direct orbit would..perhaps be forced ultimately to leave its primary altogether, one of these ‘retrograde’ satellites might survive.

1997 Nature 27 Mar. 319/2 A moon orbiting a superjovian planet outside the normally accepted habitable zone might be able to support liquid water, thanks to the added heat flux from its primary.

3. Ornithology. A primary flight feather (cf. sense A. 15). Usually in plural.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > wing or wings > feather(s) on > primary feather(s)

flags1486

pinion feather1486

pinion1545

pen-feather1602

quill feather1678

remexa1705

flight1735

flight-feather1735

primary1776

rower1835

remicle1887

pen plume1899

1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) II. ii. 525 Primaries and tail black.

1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 9 The primaries or principal quills..form the termination of the wing.

1883 H. N. Martin & W. A. Moale Handbk. Vertebr. Dissect. ii. 99 The primaries are ten in number and are inserted upon the manus.

1952 M. K. Wilson tr. K. Z. Lorenz King Solomon's Ring i. 6 The goose flying second on the left of the triangular phalanx had lost a primary.

1990 Birds Mag. Summer 49/1 It is not difficult to imagine the great wingspan of the sea eagle; dark primaries stretched apart like long fingers.

4. A primary electrical circuit, current, coil, etc. (cf. sense A. 14a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > [noun] > primary

primary1837

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > voltaic or galvanic battery > [noun] > primary battery > coil in

primary1837

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > [noun] > primary

primary1869

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > transformer > [noun] > primary circuit

primary1869

1837 M. Faraday in Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 1 200 The renitency encountered in the conductors will necessarily exercise a due influence in lessening the force of secondary currents, but cannot be made available as a cause of the comparative atony which these currents, by the initial impulses of the primary, invariably display.

1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 490 The coil of thick wire is called the primary.

1869 Eng. Mech. 17 Dec. 335/2 The core and primary are enclosed in an ebonite cylinder.

1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures iii. 36 Modulation of the voltage is accomplished through a transformer, the primary of which is supplied with the speech recording current coming from the microphone.

1992 Mod. Railways Mar. 150/3 The data to be transmitted to the train from the trackside signal is injected..into the primary of the transformer as a modulated current.

5. A primary colour (cf. sense A. 4).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > [noun] > primary colours

primitivea1806

primary1848

tristimulus1933

1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 586/2 The eye supplies the absent primary, blue.

1934 C. Hartshorne Philos. & Psychol. Sensation vii. 223 Another advantage of the system..is that it divides the circle of hues into more nearly equal steps between primaries.

1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 14 If the three primaries are placed on a white background the reverse will happen.

1998 J. A. Lee in V. C. De Munck Romantic Love & Sexual Behavior ii. 335 All these colors have a structure. There are primaries (such as red) and secondaries (such as orange, a mix of red and yellow).

a. Originally U.S., now chiefly British. A primary school. Cf. sense A. 9.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > primary school

under-school1629

primer schoola1680

proseminary1774

primary school1792

dame-schoola1817

pettya1827

ma'am-school1838

elementary school1841

primary1851

prep school1862

minding-school1864

junior school1871

tother school1881

marm school1889

preparatory1904

terakoya1909

prep1924

prepper1956

1851 Common School Syst. of State of N.-Y. (N.Y. State Dept. Public Instruction) 321 All schools which have been organized under the act..shall be called common schools (‘ward schools’) or ward primaries.

1905 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 13 438 At the end of the reign of Louis Philippe three and a half million children of both sexes were registered in the public and private primaries.

1971 Weekend World (Johannesburg) 9 May 3/3 Twelve schools—six higher primaries and six post-primaries—took part in the competition.

1991 Times Educ. Suppl. 4 Jan. 11/4 The problem for primaries..is finding the range of skills to deliver the national curriculum and full spread of out-of-school activities.

2001 Church Times 7 Dec. 5/2 Two Anglican primaries were among the 20 most improved schools.

b. A pupil at a primary school. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > primary or prep school pupil

primarian1858

prep1863

preparatory1873

primary1908

preppy1928

1908 E. Robins Come & find Me 36 ‘Serves her right’ said Primarys, Academics and Collegiates all with one voice.

7. Chiefly U.S. Politics. An election or meeting at which delegates are nominated or candidates selected to run for election; esp. an intra-party election held to select candidates for a general election. Cf. A. 8.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > meeting or assembling for common purpose > [noun] > a meeting > types of

morn-speechOE

court1154

morrow-speech1183

conventicle1382

congregation1389

plenary session1483

journeyc1500

night school1529

assession1560

general meeting1565

family meeting1638

panegyris1647

desk1691

collegea1703

annual general meeting1725

mass meeting1733

panegyre1757

plenum1772

family council1797

coterie1805

Round Table1830

GA1844

indignation meeting1848

protest meeting1852

hui1858

primary1859

Quaker meeting1861

mothers' meeting1865

sit-down1868

town hall1912

jamboree1919

protest rally1921

con1940

face-to-face1960

morning prayers1961

struggle meeting1966

be-in1967

love-in1967

plenary1969

catch-up1972

rencontre1975

schmoozefest1976

society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > selection of candidates > U.S. primary election

primary1859

1859 N.Y. Times 14 Sept. 4/4 This gave him the primaries, and the primaries gave him the coveted nomination.

1880 ‘E. Kirke’ Life J. A. Garfield 31 The clergy..and many of the leading business men..never attend the township caucus, the city primaries, or the county convention.

1900 B. C. Clark in Mod. Eloquence X. p. xvii Those of you who remember as I do the times that tried men's souls will not, I hope, forget their humble servant when the primaries shall be held.

1930 Economist 7 June 1267/1 They have nominated Mr. Franklin Fort, a ‘dry’ Congressman, as his opponent in the Republican ‘primaries’.

1976 Times 26 Feb. 15/2 Sitting Presidents need to do far more than escape disaster in the primaries, which are popularity contests among their own party's voters.

2003 Philadelphia Inquirer 16 May b6/5 Eleven of the candidates are ‘cross-filing’ in both Republican and Democratic primaries.

8. Physics and Astronomy. A primary ray or particle, esp. a primary cosmic ray (cf. sense A. 22).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > ionizing radiation > [noun] > cosmic rays

primary1923

cosmic rays1925

1923 Physical Rev. 22 243 The emission is comprised in part of electrons whose speeds are not appreciably less than that of the primaries.

1932 Physical Rev. 41 545 The average number of secondaries per primary is about 100 in iron and 230 in lead.

1942 J. D. Stranathan ‘Particles’ of Mod. Physics xii. 488 Many of the primaries and many of the large number of secondaries formed high in the atmosphere are unable to penetrate the entire atmosphere.

1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia V. 203/1 The discovery in meteoritic crystals of particle tracks produced by primaries heavier than iron.

2005 Jrnl. Physics G 31 1418 (table) Relative dependence of estimators at 600 m on the zenith angle for proton and iron primaries at 10²⁰ eV.

9. Grammar. A word or group of words (typically a noun or noun phrase) of primary importance in a phrase or sentence. Originally in Otto Jespersen's terminology (cf. adjunct n. 3a(b), subjunct adj. and n.); now usually contrasted with secondary or attribute.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic unit or constituent > [noun] > word or phrase of specific rank or importance

quaternary1899

adjunct1914

subjunct1914

adnex1924

primary1924

secondary1924

tertiary1924

focus1966

1914 O. Jespersen Mod. Eng. Gram. II. i. 2 In the combination extremely hot weather, weather may be called a primary word or a principal.]

1924 O. Jespersen Philos. Gram. vii. 97 We may, of course, have two or more coordinate adjuncts to the same primary: thus, in a nice young lady, the words a, nice, and young equally define lady.

1935 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 34 416 All that the primaries..have in common is their noun character; it would be simpler and clearer to call them nouns and noun-equivalents.

1957 S. Potter Mod. Ling. v. 115 In the phrase good men there are two ranks: men is the head-word or primary and good is the attribute or secondary.

1995 F. Plank in F. Plank Double Case i. 19 Apart from being syntactic primaries, these nouns could also serve as secondaries, as attributes to principal nouns.

10. Medicine. A primary neoplasm (cf. sense A. 10).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [noun] > tumour > other tumours

polypusa1398

polypa1400

ecchymoma?1541

cat's hair1552

pneumatocele1585

thrombus1676

morum1684

physocele1706

haematocele1724

myxosarcoma1802

moro1807

lipoma1830

tuberculomaa1836

melanoma1838

pancreatoid1842

enchondroma1847

pseudoplasm1847

myeloma1848

tyroma1848

haematoma1849

adenocele1850

pachydermatocele1854

myosarcoma1857

angioma1858

myxoma1860

gliosarcoma1869

lymphadenoma1873

lymphoma1873

myoma1875

odontoma1876

teratoid tumour1876

teratoma1879

fibro-lipoma1882

embryoma1886

haemangioma1890

tubulodermoidc1900

plasmoma1901

astrocytoma1903

adamantinoma1904

hamartoma1904

plasmocytoma1907

mesothelioma1909

plasmacytoma1909

neuroblastoma1910

neurocytoma1910

paraganglioma1914

carcinoid1925

oligodendroglioma1926

mastocytoma1927

phaeochromocytoma1929

ameloblastoma1931

Schwannoma1932

myoblastoma1934

neurilemmoma1943

primary1957

neurolemmoma1964

vipoma1973

prolactinoma1975

somatostatinoma1977

1957 Internat. Jrnl. Appl. Radiation & Isotopes 2 258/1 The sterilization of early micro-metastases at a distance from the primaries.

1984 J. R. Tighe & D. R. Davies Pathol. (ed. 4) x. 69 The original tumour is known as the primary.

2004 Clin. Oncol. 16 105/2 It [sc. signet ring cell carcinoma] has been described most commonly in the stomach, but also as a primary in the colon, pancreas, breast, bladder, prostate and rarely the lung.

Compounds

primary age n. Education the stage of life during which children receive primary education, typically (in the United Kingdom) between the ages of about five and eleven; frequently attributive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > child > [adjective]

smalla1325

impuberala1856

impubic1876

impuberate1880

primary age1893

primary1908

preadolescent1910

subadolescent1910

subteenage1939

rising fives1968

society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [adjective] > primary or prep school pupil

preparatory1858

primary age1893

preppy1900

1893 Cent. Mag. Jan. 476/1 In the primary age the child has begun to feel the desire for learning the conventional instruments invented by the race for communicating and preserving human experience.

1929 in G. M. Whipple Preschool & Parental Educ. i. viii. 225 We ordinarily have three groups before our first primary-age level: a group of children from two to three approximately, three to four, and four to five.

1992 Times Educ. Suppl. 31 Jan. 86/2 (advt.) The postholder should have experience of teaching primary age pupils with learning, sensory and emotional difficulties.

primary air n. see sense A. 25.

primary amputation n. Surgery amputation performed immediately after an injury or as a first line of treatment; amputation performed before the onset of infection or gangrene; an instance of this (cf. secondary amputation at secondary adj. 5e).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > removal by surgical means > [noun] > by cutting away > amputation > types of

primary amputation1828

secondary amputation1837

self-amputation1849

transfixion1872

transfixation1889

1828 Lancet 17 May 205/2 From untoward circumstances, primary amputation had been postponed beyond the usual time, so that the tissues had become tumefied from serous and lymphatic effusion.

1975 Ann. Surg. 181 182 Femoroperoneal bypass was performed in preference to primary amputation in each case.

2004 Jrnl. Reconstructive Microsurg. 20 511 Diabetic patients, presenting with both peripheral vascular disease and large soft-tissue defects, are too often treated by primary amputation.

primary bow n. = primary rainbow n.

ΚΠ

1672 I. Newton in Philos. Trans. 1671 (Royal Soc.) 6 3084 Such are the drops on the inside of the primary bow.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 444 In the true or primary bow, the rays of light arrive at the spectator's eye after two refractions and one reflection.

1995 Sky & Telescope May 67/2 (caption) Rachel Funcheon took this picture from the side of a Missouri high-way just after an intense downpour. Her image clearly shows the brighter region inside the primary bow and Alexander's dark band between the primary and secondary.

primary caregiver n. chiefly North American the person who provides the majority of care or guardianship, esp. to a child or an infirm person.

ΚΠ

1972 Family Coordinator 21 95 A mode of intervention..is described in which another widow is the primary caregiver... They offer the newly bereaved individual an opportunity to get some help in coping with their grief.

1991 Canada Lutheran Nov. 6/1 Home-based hospices are not available in Canada as far as I know. A primary caregiver in the home, usually a spouse or offspring, is a necessary factor in this model.

2006 N.Y. Times (Electronic ed.) 19 Feb. xiv. 11 The Legislature should require that child custody be awarded to the parent who was the primary caregiver during the marriage to ensure stability and continuity of care for children.

primary caretaker n. chiefly North American = primary caregiver n.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > upbringing > [noun] > one who brings up

nurshera1382

rearera1382

nurrya1387

nutrix?a1475

bringer up1529

nurturer1542

breedera1568

upbringerc1598

raiser-up1879

primary caretaker1914

motherer1974

1914 Manitoba Free Press 25 Dec. 1/5 The children's primary caretaker, the Children's Aid society, have arranged to look after 10,000 juveniles.

1969 Child Devel. 40 626 Learning theory would predict that the amount of early social reinforcement an infant receives from his primary caretakers should generalize to his..behavioral output toward other adults.

2005 Wall St. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 19 Oct. [She] is the primary caretaker for her mother, who has an illness.

primary cell wall n. Botany the first cell wall to be formed in plant cell development.

ΚΠ

1872 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 162 205 This tissue consists of simple prosenchyma, the walls exhibiting no traces of the pits or extensions of the protoplasm..to the primary cell-wall, seen in the true prosenchyma of Conifers.

1952 A. Frey-Wyssling in Struct. Aspects of Cell Physiol. 320 The development of cell walls, especially in the cells of higher plants, passes through two different stages. As long as there is growth in area, they remain thin and flexible. This fine membrane is called the primary cell wall.

2002 Plant Cell Physiol. 43 1421/2 The plant primary cell wall is a dynamic structure that exhibits considerable spatial and temporal variability in terms of composition and organization.

primary constriction n. Genetics a cytologically defined chromosomal constriction associated with and determined by the centromeric region.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > centromere > parts associated with

prochromosome1905

primary constriction1932

1932 C. D. Darlington Rec. Adv. in Cytol. 495 Primary or attachment constriction, that always associated with the spindle attachment.

1969 W. V. Brown & E. M. Bertke Textbk. Cytol. xviii. 344/1 This ‘constriction’ associated with the centromere is often loosely called the centromere, or kinetochore, but more exactly it is the primary constriction.

2003 Current Opinion in Genetics & Devel. 13 191/1 The centromere is the locus responsible for the segregation of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis... The kinetochore complex assembles at this site and in many organisms is visible as the primary constriction.

primary dealer n. (a) Business a distributor or wholesaler purchasing directly from producers; (b) Finance a dealer authorized to deal directly with a country's central bank.

ΚΠ

1914 Manitoba Free Press 25 July 22/4 One of these descriptions, that of primary dealer, is new. It is intended to include a class of buyer formerly not comprised within the terms of the act.

1949 N.Y. Times 2 Mar. 4 (advt.) As a primary dealer in U.S. Government bonds, notes, certificates and discount bills, Bankers Trust maintains a market in these securities.

2003 J. A. Crutchfield & A. Zellner Econ. Marine Resources & Conservation Policy xi. 105/2 The gap between market prices and fishing costs..could even attract large secondary wholesalers and chain retailers into bypassing existing primary dealers entirely.

2005 Euromoney (Electronic ed.) Dec. Bankers say that many of Europe's debt management offices are abusing their power over their primary dealers to keep costs of issuance down.

primary education n. education which provides the rudiments of knowledge; early or elementary schooling; spec. (in the United Kingdom) the education of children between the ages of about five and eleven years.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > [noun] > systematic education > education at school > at primary school

primary instruction1811

primary education1818

1818 Rep. Commissioners Univ. Virginia 4 Aug. 4 The objects of this primary education determine its character and limits.

1868 J. E. T. Rogers Man. Polit. Econ. xx. 260 The German emigrants.., most of whom are fairly possessed of primary education, are much more handy than those who come from states where equal care is not taken.

1933 C. L. Fry in O. A. Petty India–Burma 38 In the field of primary education the number of scholars in mission schools also increased much less rapidly than those in Government and non-mission schools.

1993 Times Educ. Suppl. 5 Mar. (Review Suppl.) 5/5 It is entirely unrealistic to see state primary education as if it were private preparatory schooling.

primary endosperm nucleus n. Botany the triploid nucleus which results from the fusion of the two polar nuclei of the embryo sac with a sperm nucleus, and which (usually) divides to form the endosperm tissue.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > other parts

disc1835

crystalloid1863

autoplast1884

plastid1885

granum1894

primary endosperm nucleus1897

chromoplast1902

phragmoplast1904

plasmodesma1905

phragmosome1940

1897 Bot. Gaz. 23 147 There is no primary endosperm nucleus formed by the fusion of polar nuclei, but an endosperm formed before fertilization.

1938 H. E. Hayward Struct. Econ. Plants 137 This [fertilization] is double in character, one microgamete uniting with the megagamete to form the zygote, the other with the polar nuclei to form the primary endosperm nucleus.

2004 Plant Sci. 167 575/1 Double fertilization results in the dipoid zygote, which develops into the embryo and the triploid primary endosperm nucleus, developing into the endosperm.

primary evidence n. Law evidence, such as the original of a document, that by its nature does not suggest that better evidence is available; cf. secondary evidence n. at secondary adj. 1i.

ΚΠ

1793 tr. in London Chron. 7 Sept. 243/3 The primary evidence, that is, the ship's papers, and the preparatory examinations, were sufficiently conclusive.

1886 H. G. Wood Pract. Evid. i. 3 That received is merely a copy and therefore without any of the essential elements of primary evidence.

1942 Columbia Law Rev. 42 1133 The attesting witnesses provide the primary evidence of valid execution.

2011 Afr. News (Nexis) 9 Mar. He also pointed out that it is primary evidence as it is an original.

primary forest n. see sense A. 24b.

primary group n. Sociology a small social group based on close personal contact and mutual concern, such as a family or team.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > [noun] > social group > basic

primary group1909

1894 A. W. Small & G. E. Vincent Introd. Study of Society iii. ii. 183 (heading) The primary social group: the family.]

1909 C. H. Cooley Social Organization iii. 23 By primary groups I mean those characterized by intimate face-to-face association and coöperation.

1950 G. C. Homans Human Group i. 1 A number of persons who communicate with one another often over a span of time, and..few enough so that each person is able to communicate with all the others..face-to-face. Sociologists call this the primary group.

1991 M. Mackie Gender Relations Canada v. 103/2 Family and peer groups are the prototypical primary groups. There, people are valued and treated as total personalities.

primary humour n. now historical each of the four cardinal humours (humour n. 1a) of the body.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [noun] > fluid secretion > humours > specific humours

phlegmc1250

moisturea1387

melancholyc1390

cholera1393

black humoura1398

choleraa1398

melancholiaa1398

coldness1398

sanguineness1530

atrabile1594

combust choler1607

primary humour1621

black bile1634

cambium1634

yellow bile1634

kapha1937

pitta1937

dosha1959

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. ii. 21 To maintaine those foure first primary Humors.

1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 556 We cannot admit..that the hypothesis of four primary humours..was already established in the writings of Hippocrates.

1944 isis 35 19/2 The kind and degree of therapeutic interference were dependent on..the seven res naturales (elements, temperaments, primary humours, parts of the body, forces, functions, vital spirits).

primary instruction n. now somewhat archaic early or elementary schooling; primary education.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > [noun] > systematic education > education at school > at primary school

primary instruction1811

primary education1818

1811 Times 12 July 2/5 For the primary instruction of children, His Majesty perceives with pleasure the establishment of small schools upon Dr. Bell's and Mr. Lancaster's plans.

1861 M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 2 M. Magin, now Inspector-General of primary instruction, and formerly Rector of the Academy of Nancy.

1923 H. G. James & P. A. Martin Republics of Lat. Amer. (rev. ed.) iv. 155 In some of the states primary instruction is compulsory and extensive, while in others it is not compulsory and very limited.

1999 Scotsman (Nexis) 10 Mar. 11 My primary instruction of Scottish history was inadequate... Several of my peers learnt nothing but Scottish history during history lessons at primary school.

primary legislation n. (a) originally British legislation introduced by the government, e.g. by Act of Parliament, which therefore forms the framework or prompt for subsequent legislation; (b) U.S. legislation relating to primary elections.

ΚΠ

1867 Times 4 Sept. 5/5 It would be found..that all the lines were paying their working expenses, and would be paying all their interest charges, had the primary legislation for railways only allowed an irredeemable debenture issue.

1898 N.Y. Times 18 Jan. 4 Representatives of the reform movement..were in conference with Gov. Black this morning for over an hour on the question of primary legislation.

1958 A. Leiserson Parties & Politics vi. 245 These ideas are reflected in the laws of several states which have experimented with primary legislation during the past ten years.

2004 Daily Tel. 28 Jan. 5/6 If the Government wanted to raise the £3,000 figure before 2010 it would need to introduce a new Bill,..known as primary legislation.

primary market n. originally U.S. (a) Business a market trading in commodities directly supplied by producers; (b) Finance the market in which newly issued securities are sold for the first time.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > other types of market

market overt1555

money market1787

pitched1805

farmers' market1847

primary market1859

perfect market1889

energy market1920

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > traffic in stocks and shares > types of market

commodity market1843

primary market1859

short interest1866

bear market1873

aftermarket1887

terminal market1887

Kaffir Circus1889

shop1889

bull market1891

open1898

curb-market1900

the junglea1901

jungle-market1900

short market1900

down market1915

short end1964

third market1964

Unlisted Securities Market1979

USM1979

bulldog market1980

1859 La Crosse (Wisconsin) Independent Republican 30 Mar. 1/7 The grain trade, of which Chicago is the greates[t] primary market in the world.

1871 N.Y. Times 1 July 2/5 New-York is the place where the corporation is established, and is the primary market for the sale of the stock.

1959 Times 30 July 11/2 The turnover of the London gold market will not be favourable, even though it retains its undisputed position as the world's foremost primary market for gold bullion.

2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 266 Paid-in capital is generated when a firm issues stock in the primary market, not when the stock is traded in the secondary market.

primary meristem n. Botany a region of plant tissue consisting of actively dividing, undifferentiated cells; esp. an apical meristem.

ΚΠ

1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 117 This tissue is termed Primary Meristem [Ger. Urmeristem]..because it presents the primary condition of the tissue, out of which the different forms of the permanent tissue are successively formed.

1939 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 25 445 The primary meristem is essentially the functional embryo of the plant. It remains undifferentiated..and is the ultimate source of all organs of the plant.

2003 Trends Plant Sci. 8 542/2 The primary meristem of Arabidopsis can be considered to produce primordia that will give rise to a leaf and to an axiliary meristem.

primary mirror n. Astronomy (in a reflecting telescope) the main mirror that collects and focuses incoming light; = object mirror n. at object n. Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1935 N.Y. Times 11 Aug. n2/3 The image of the sun will be caught by a large primary mirror... Through other mirrors it will be reflected into the spectroscope.

1964 Science 12 June 1304/3 Since the telescope was intended to photograph stars down to magnitude 18.0.., the aperture of the primary mirror had to be not less than 60 inches.

2003 Astronomy Aug. 98/2 The Newtonian design uses a primary mirror and a second, ‘diagonal’ mirror.

primary oocyte n. Biology an oocyte that gives rise in the first division of meiosis to the secondary oocyte and a polar body; cf. secondary oocyte n. at secondary adj. 5d.

ΚΠ

1897 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 24 104 I propose to use the term[s] ‘primary sporocyte’ for the cells of the sixteen-cell stage, and ‘secondary sporocyte’ for cells of the thirty-two-cell stage. These terms are directly analogous to ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ ‘oöcyte’, and ‘spermatocyte’ in animal cells.

1946 B. M. Patten Human Embryol. ii. 31 The primary oöcyte divides to form two secondary oöcytes. One of these receives little cytoplasm and is called the first polar body.

1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes ix. 120/1 Oogenesis, the development of eggs, occurs within the ovary and also progresses through various stages involving oogonia, primary and secondary oocytes, and finally ova or eggs.

primary pit field n. Botany an area of reduced thickness in a primary cell wall, characteristically penetrated by numerous plasmodesmata.

ΚΠ

1934 Jrnl. Arnold Arboretum 15 332 Cambial walls are characterized by having more or less numerous plasmodesmata which may be..aggregated in thinner areas of the walls, i.e. in so-called primary pit-fields.

1992 M. Ingrouille Diversity & Evol. Land Plants 26 In parenchyma cells, the cell wall is uniformly thin except in areas with dense plasmodesmata, the primary pit field, where it is even thinner.

primary poverty n. (in social economics) the condition of lacking the means to provide even the basic necessities of life.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > extreme poverty or destitution

nakedness1526

starkness1544

beggary1581

destitutiona1600

primary poverty1901

down-and-outness1907

Tobacco Road1937

1901 B. S. Rowntree Poverty p. viii Families whose total earnings are insufficient to obtain the minimum necessaries... Poverty falling under this head I have described as ‘primary’ poverty.

1964 M. Laski in S. Nowell-Smith Edwardian Eng. iv. 173 Primary poverty, that is to say,..conditions where the family income..is insufficient to maintain health and working efficiency.

2000 Independent 4 July (Tuesday Review section) 5/3 The US still has..more inequality and primary poverty.

primary radar n. see sense A. 30.

primary rainbow n. the rainbow produced when light is dispersed within each raindrop by refraction with a single internal reflection, having colours ranging from red on the outside to violet on the inside, and which is the inner and usually brighter rainbow when two are seen (secondary bow or rainbow at secondary adj. 3g).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > rainbow > [noun] > primary

primary rainbow1665

primary bow1672

1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 48 The order of the Colours..was quite contrary to the primary or innermost Rainbow.

1793 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 83 1 In this shower two primary rainbows appeared.

1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxxii. 265 The primary or inner rainbow, which is commonly seen alone, is part of a circle whose radius is 41°.

1992 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 338 397 New features of the primary rainbow have been revealed in recent experiments.

primary road n. U.S. = main road n. (a) at main adj.² Compounds 2 (in quot. 1888 referring to a railroad company).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > main or major road

great road1614

high road1620

main road1741

highway1837

traffic artery1845

trunk road1848

main-way1862

arterial road1886

primary roada1903

route1912

arterial1920

major road1930

spine road1961

1888 Atlanta Constit. 25 July 7/1 The primary road will bill the car to any point desired, and as they nearly all come via Atlanta, when it arrives here it is turned over to the connecting line for the point to be reached.]

a1903 F. L. Ohmsted Landscape into Cityscape (1967) 372 If..such minor roads..should..be made very indirect and circuitous,..the public in general, keeping to the primary roads, would suffer no inconvenience.

1920 New Era (Humeston, Iowa) 25 Feb. 7/2 The 38th General Assembly..enacted what is known as the primary law setting aside approximately 6,400 miles of the main traveled roads of the state as primary roads.

1956 R. Braddon Nancy Wake xviii. 215 They had frequently to cross primary roads.

2001 Gazette (Wellsborough, Pa.) 11 July 1/3 They also hope to regrade the primary road that leads into the ski area before winter.

primary scholar n. Education a child who attends primary school.

ΚΠ

1850 Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) 23 July The primary scholars classed by themselves, with a teacher devoted entirely to them, will spend the school hours thrice as cheerfully and profitably.

1930 J. L. Barton Story Near East Relief iii. 38 The college student of today was a primary scholar when this organization was created.

1999 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 12 Mar. 17 Education authorities across the region..have comprehensive drug awareness programmes not just for older children but for primary scholars as well.

primary school n. [after French école primaire (1791)] Education a school where young children are taught, a first or elementary school; spec. (a) (in the United Kingdom) a school for children between the ages of about five and eleven; (b) North American an elementary school, esp. one covering the first three or four grades (sometimes including kindergarten).

ΘΚΠ

society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > primary school

under-school1629

primer schoola1680

proseminary1774

primary school1792

dame-schoola1817

pettya1827

ma'am-school1838

elementary school1841

primary1851

prep school1862

minding-school1864

junior school1871

tother school1881

marm school1889

preparatory1904

terakoya1909

prep1924

prepper1956

1792Primary Schools [see sense A. 9].

1842 Biblical Repertory Apr. 219 The thing is made to suit the latitude of every college, academy,..primary school, infant school, [etc.]..in the republic.

1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography Pref. 6 The boys and girls who pass through an ordinary primary school.

1902 Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator 22 Oct. 1/3 The speaker referred to the growing tendency in primary schools to minimize the importance of ‘number work’.

1958 K. Lovell Educ. Psychol. & Children xvi. 198 The primary school child like the pre-school child has his fears and anxieties.

1990 R. H. Bork Tempting of Amer. 48 The Society of Sisters operated primary schools that taught the subjects usually taught in the public schools and also provided systematic religious instruction.

2004 Daily Tel. 25 Aug. 18/3 When I was young, the ‘nit-nurse’ was a regular feature at primary school.

primary spermatocyte n. Biology a diploid spermatocyte that gives rise in the first division of meiosis to two secondary spermatocytes.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > sperm > sperm cell

spermatoon1852

spermatogonium1861

spermatocyte1886

spermatid1889

primary spermatocyte1896

spermogonium1913

1896 E. B. Wilson Cell iii. 122 The primary spermatocyte first divides to form two daughter-cells known as spermatocytes of the second order or sperm-mother-cells. Each of these divides again..to form two spermatids or sperm-cells.

1927 Jrnl. Exper. Zool. 49 463 The darkly colored pycnotic primary spermatocytes..are the most conspicuous cells in the germinal epithelium.

1999 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96 5626/2 In late meiotic prophase..the primary spermatocyte nuclei make final preparations for the first meiotic division.

primary structure n. (a) Aeronautics the parts of an aircraft whose failure would seriously endanger safety; (b) Biochemistry the first level of complexity in the structure of a protein or nucleic acid molecule, consisting of the linear sequence of amino acid or nucleotide residues (cf. secondary adj. 3y).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > essential structural parts

primary structure1939

1939 Aircraft Engin. Feb. 66/1 The primary structure of the main plane is erected in a wall jig.

1939 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 127 20 These protein molecules have a primary and a secondary structure. The primary structure is the polypeptide chain which may perhaps be arranged in cyclol cages.

1952 K. U. Linderstrøm-Lang Proteins & Enzymes 58 The presence of intrahelix as well as interhelix bonds may justify a classification into secondary (intrahelix) and tertiary (interhelix) structures, as distinct from the primary structure of the simple β-chain.

1964 J. E. D. Williams Operation of Airliners ix. 133 To ensure that throughout the operational life of the aircraft the possibility of disastrous fatigue failure is remote, the primary structure must either have an extremely long probable life or be designed to fail safely.

2003 Nature 30 Oct. 977/2 The primary structure of osteocalcin (OC) is highly conserved among vertebrates.

primary substance n. Philosophy (esp. in Aristotelian thought) a distinct individual entity, to which properties and attributes can be ascribed; = substance n. 2; cf. substance n. 4a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substance or being

being1340

substance1340

essencea1398

materialitya1529

stuff1587

subject1590

timber1612

primary substance1774

1774 H. Home Sketches Hist. of Man III. 155 Substances are either primary, to wit, individual substances, or secondary, to wit, the genera and species of substances.

1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 223/1 The first category is subdivided into..primary substance, which is defined to be..the singular thing in which properties inhere, and to which predicates are attached, and..genera or species which can be predicated of primary substances.

1901 O. J. Thatcher Ideas that have influenced Civilization II. 348 It belongs also to substance that there is no contrary to them, since what can be contrary to the primary substance, as to a certain ‘man’, or to a certain ‘animal’, for there is nothing contrary either at least to ‘man’ or to ‘animal’?

2000 Proc. Aristotelian Soc. 100 308 Each individual entity, or primary substance, is conceived as a compound of matter and form.

primary treatment n. (a) Medicine the first or main treatment administered to a patient; (b) the first stage in the treatment of waste water whereby solids and floating matter are removed by sedimentation.

ΚΠ

1808 Med. Repository 2nd Hexade 6 175 The want of success in the primary treatment of the disorder, is no impeachment of professional skill and knowledge.

1919 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 13 July 26/2 It was thought that with only a primary treatment of the sewage the water for dilution would render the effluent from the plant sufficiently stable that it would not be objectionable.

1969 Sunday Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 18 May c6/3 Surgery and radiation are still the primary treatments for cancer but chemotherapy..is making contributions also.

1992 Operation Forestry Northwest June 37/2 Primary treatment consists of a clarifier and de-watering system for the removal of settleable solids.

primary wave n. see sense A. 26.

primary wing n. Entomology (now rare) either of the forewings of a four-winged insect.

ΚΠ

1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. III. xxxv. 642 In Attacus Atlas the primary wings are falcated or hooked at their apex.

1926 Amer. Naturalist 60 449 Primary wings are most affected, although the secondaries are reduced somewhat in length and venation.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	primary
释义	primaryadj.n. Brit. /ˈprʌɪm(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈpraɪˌmɛri/, /ˈpraɪm(ə)ri/ Forms: late Middle English prymary, late Middle English (in a late copy)–1500s primarye, late Middle English– primary, 1500s prymarye, 1500s–1700s primarie. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin prīmārius. Etymology: < classical Latin prīmārius of the first rank or importance, chief, principal, in post-classical Latin also primitive, original (c400), first, former (10th cent.), that has priority (13th cent.) < prīmus prime adj. + -ārius -ary suffix¹. Compare French primaire (1789: see below), Catalan primari (1539), Spanish primario (second half of the 14th cent. or earlier as noun, end of the 15th cent. or earlier as adjective), Portuguese primário (1685), Italian primario (a1348). With use as noun compare post-classical Latin primarius leading man, leader (Vetus Latina). Compare primer adj., premier adj., and also prime adj.In sense A. 8 after French primaire (1789 in this sense, in assemblée primaire primary assembly; this is the earliest attestation of the French word). In sense A. 9 after French primaire (1791 in this sense, in école primaire primary school). In sense A. 12 after post-classical Latin primarius (1729 in tempora primaria primary tenses, or earlier). In sense A. 15 probably after French primaire (1805 (in Cuvier) or earlier in this sense, in penne primaire primary feather). In sense A. 18a after German Stamm- (in Stammkerne (plural) primary nuclei: 1848 in the source translated in quot. 1852), itself after French fondamental (in radical fondamental : A. Laurent 1836, in Ann. de chimie et de physique 61 126). In sense A. 18b after French primaire (in amides primaires , plural: C. Gerhardt & L. Chiozza 1853, in Comptes rendus hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. 37 88). In sense A. 18c after German primär (H. Kolbe 1864, in Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm. 132 102, originally with reference to alcohols). A. adj. I. General senses. 1. Occurring or existing first in a sequence of events; belonging to the beginning or earliest stage of something; first in time. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adjective] > first or prior to all others formec888 eldestc897 firstlOE originalc1350 foremosta1400 furthermost?a1400 primary?a1425 primatea1425 primea1500 arch1574 soon1591 origin1632 utter1634 premier1652 aboriginary1653 furthest1653 fontal1656 principial1699 première1768 protological1936 first-ever1955 ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 155 (MED) Þe primary cause or þe first infloweþ more þan þe secundary cause. 1442 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1919) II. 51 We..have founde many and dyverse thynges among yowe agayn your prymary institucyone, rewle and obseruaunces regulere. a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 59 Fyrst thow them putrefye, her primarye quallytes destroiyng vtterlye. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 357 Besides this originall, and primary foundation, divers others have made impressions according unto different ages and persons. View more context for this quotation 1651 C. Cartwright Certamen Religiosum i. 107 So we grant that primary antiquity is a sure note of truth. 1702 G. Farquhar Love & Business 140 Here is the primary Design of Comedy, illustrated from its first Institution. 1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes i. 5 Let us look..at the Hero as Divinity, the oldest primary form of Heroism. 1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. ii. xvi. 273 In the order of constructive thought, the sensation of muscular tension is primary, and that of pressure secondary. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 801/2 They were adapted both for giving the necessary primary surgical treatment and for removing the wounded quickly from the sphere of fighting. 1962 J. L. Austin's How to do Things with Words vi. 71 The explicit performative must be a later development than certain more primary utterances. 1993 F. Collymore RSVP to Mrs Bush-Hall 128 That primary phase of her obligation as hostess accomplished, the reception of her guests, she..was contemplating with satisfaction the pulsating scene before her. 2. Of the highest rank or importance; principal, chief. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [adjective] mother?c1225 originalc1350 radicala1398 primitive?a1425 fundamentalc1449 primordial?a1450 primea1500 primary1565 nativea1592 fundamentive1593 primordiate1599 primara1603 remote1605 originousa1637 originary1638 parental1647 principiate1654 fontal1656 underivative1656 underived1656 fountainous1662 first hand1699 matricular1793 first-handed1855 protomorphic1887 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important mosteOE foremostc1000 headOE headlyOE nexta1200 umest1513 primary1565 headest1577 ruling1590 forward1591 capital1597 of the first magnitude1643 palmary1646 top1647 prepondering1651 headmost1661 home1662 life-and-death1804 palmarian1815 bada1825 key1832 première1844 the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [adjective] firsteOE headOE highOE greatc1350 upperestc1374 chief1377 singular1377 principala1382 royalc1425 cardinal1440 pre-eminenta1460 praisea1475 main1480 maina1525 primary1565 captain1566 arch1574 mistressa1586 capital1597 topless1609 primea1616 metropolitan1635 transeminent1660 whole1675 uppermost1680 primus inter pares1688 topping1694 Sudder1787 par excellence1839 banner1840 primatial1892 the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > originality or non-imitation > [adjective] authentic1407 untransumed1526 authentical1565 primary1565 exampleless1603 unimitatedc1610 unfollowed1630 originary1679 uncopied1737 unimitating1751 unreprinted1775 unimitative1807 protogenic1855 1565 H. Bullinger Let. to Bishops 3 May in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. xlii. 428 We would do nothing..without the privity of you, the primary ministers. a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1955) II. 204 I meane of a primary necessity, of a necessity to be beleeved De fide. 1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. 170 The primary end of our life, unto what al our actions ought to collime, as arrows to their scope. 1720 T. Brett Coll. Princ. Liturgies 298 The Orarium was a long narrow Towel,..the primary Use of it was to wipe the Mouth or the Fingers as there was occasion. 1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V II. vi. 447 The primary object of almost all the monastic orders is to separate men from the world. a1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1857) 3rd Ser. ii. 18 Every apostle, in his way, assigns to faith a primary importance. 1883 Contemp. Rev. 43 11 The primary use of work is that of supplying the materials and aids to living completely. 1935 G. Santayana Last Puritan iv. i. 464 Oliver realised for the first time that the primary use of conversation is to satisfy the impulse to talk. 1965 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) §16 Flight crew (operating crew), those members of the aircrew whose primary concern is the operation and navigation of the aircraft and its safety in flight. 2000 M. Bakhtin in D. Lodge & N. Wood Mod. Crit. &Theory (ed. 2) vi. 124 The speech diversity within language thus has primary importance for the novel. 3. a. That is not subordinate to or derived from anything else; that is the source or cause of something; fundamental; original. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [adjective] > specific orders of triangulation principal1790 secondary1790 tertiary1851 first-order1863 primary1920 1590 W. Clever Flower of Phisicke 101 The primary reason..is ioyned in propertie with fantasie, and groweth in custome both together to be bewrayed with Phisiognomy. 1617 R. Robinson Art of Pronuntiation sig. A.10b The causes of this motion and restraint are primary and secondary: the primary is spirituall, the secondary is instrumental. 1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. i. vi. 59 That order of Speech, which begins from Primary or most Universal Propositions, which are manifest of themselves, and proceeds by a perpetuall composition of Propositions into Syllogismes. 1725 I. Watts Logick i. iv. §7 They are used in a figurative or tropical Sense, when they are made to signify some things, which only bear either a Reference or a Resemblance to the primary Ideas of them. 1762 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. I. ii. 82 The emotions produced..may..be termed secondary, being occasioned either by antecedent emotions or antecedent passions, which in this respect may be termed primary. 1826 S. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 95/1 Words, in their origin, have a natural or primary sense. The accidental associations..afterwards give to that word a great number of secondary meanings. 1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) v. xxxiii. 190 The Sun..gives us the primary division of time into day and night. 1920 W. N. Thomas Surveying xiii. 382 On the Ordnance Survey the first framework of triangles set out over the country constituted the ‘Principal’ or ‘Primary’ triangulation. 1945 R. A. Knox God & Atom iii. 41 St. Thomas..distinguished God as the Primary Cause from those secondary causes to which we attribute this or that effect in our daily experience. 1994 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Sept. 62/4 Insofar as Europe is concerned, most of the current immigrants from the third world are not ‘primary’ immigrants but dependent relatives. b. Not involving intermediate agency; immediate, first-hand; that is a direct result of something. Now chiefly in technical and specialist senses: cf. A. II. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > [adjective] > immediate or direct immediate1533 direct1600 primary1621 proximate1641 1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 193 We call them immortall..: first by reason of their essence, which is spirituall and originarie, or primarie from God the giuer of it. 1656 R. Vines Treat. Lords-supper (1677) 279 The schoolmen distinguish between the primary and per se effects..and these that are per accidens. 1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic ix. 222 The direct or primary echoes from each reflecting surface reach the ear in succession. 1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 211 When a substance yields uncombined and unaltered at the electrodes, those bodies which have been separated by the electric current, then the results may be considered as primary. 1948 D. Dillard Econ. J. M. Keynes 184 Deposits which result directly from the lending and investing activities of individual banks..are called ‘derivative’ deposits, as distinguished from ‘primary’ deposits which result from the actual deposit of cash. 1986 Financial Times (Nexis) 30 Jan. i. 17 The direct primary welfare loss from a 30 per cent fall in the price of oil is 30 per cent of net oil exports. c. Chiefly Botany and Anatomy. Designating a main branch of a ramifying structure, esp. the first or most important in a series of successive divisions from which all the others ultimately proceed. Cf. secondary adj. 4a. ΚΠ 1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 676 [Polypodium aculeatum] The primary pinnæ are longest near the middle of the rib, and from thence decrease gradually towards the top and base. 1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 207 The large primary branches of the carotid artery. 1835 J. S. Henslow Princ. Bot. i. i. iii. 63 The primary nerves branch off from it on either side, throughout its whole length. 1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. i. iv. 193 When the floral axis is thus branched, it is better to speak of the main axis as the primary axis.., its divisions as the secondary axes.., and their divisions as the tertiary axes. 1905 C. S. Sargent Man. Trees N. Amer. 603 Metopium Metopium..leaflets..with..primary veins spreading at right angles, numerous reticulate veinlets, and stout petiolules. 1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) i. 14 The Brachiopoda are so well defined and sharply marked off from all other animals that they have been accorded the rank of a phylum or primary branch of the Animal Kingdom. 2003 Tissue & Cell 35 375 First appearing as a solid cord of epithelial cells that runs in the proximal-distal axis of the developing lung, progressively, the intrapulmonary primary bronchus begins to canalize. d. Chemistry. Forming an ultimate or basic constituent of which a more complex whole is composed. Now chiefly historical. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [adjective] > of or relating to compounds > by number of contitutive elements > one primary1802 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > [adjective] > prepared by mixing > of the first stage of compounding primary1802 1802 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. I. 388 Compound bodies are of two kinds. Some of them are formed by the combination of two or more simple substances with each other... Others are formed by the combination of two or more compound bodies with each other... The first of these kinds of compounds I call Primary Compounds; to the second I give the name of Secondary Compounds. 1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 109 To ascertain the primary elements of the different vegetable principles, and the proportions in which they are combined. 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Chem. 2 When two atoms of different kinds unite to form a third or compound atom,..they may be called elementary or primary atoms. 1927 Science Apr. (Suppl.) xii/2 The essential and probably the primary compound of all living matter is protein. 1989 R. Waterfield Before Eureka (BNC) 32 This is the notion of an ‘element’, originally conceived simply as a source or primary constituent and later also as an indivisible, homogeneous unit. II. Technical and specialist senses. 4. Esp. in primary colour. Designating each of the colours from which all other colours can be derived by combining them in different proportions. Also: designating each of the seven colours of the spectrum (now historical).In terms of light the colours are now recognized as red, green, and blue; in terms of pigment, as red, yellow, and blue (black and white were formerly also included). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] i-liteda1225 coloureda1325 colorate?a1425 tinct1579 primary colour1612 tincted1626 tinctured1626 tinto1686 tinted1756 unpaleda1820 pigmented1822 toned1864 hued1876 1612 H. Peacham Gentlemans Exercise i. xxiii. 79 Blacke, white, and yealow according to Aristotle are the foure [sic] primary or principall colours. 1664 R. Boyle Exper. & Considerations Colours iii. xii. 219 There are but few Simple and Primary Colours (if I may so call them) from whose Various Compositions all the rest do as it were result... I have not yet found, that to exhibit this strange Variety they [sc. Printers] need imploy any more than White, and Black, and Red, and Blew, and Yellow. 1672 I. Newton in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 7 5095 That Colour is Primary or Original, which cannot by any Art be changed, and whose Rays are alike refrangible. 1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. i. §2. 75 White is vulgarly thought to be the most uncompounded of all Colours, while yet it really arises from a certain Proportion of the Seven primary Colours. 1848 R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting vi. 211 Although there are but three primitive colours, painters have nine. These are—Yellow, Red, Blue, which are primary; Orange, Purple, Green, which are secondary, being compounds of the primaries [etc.]. 1876 J. Bernstein Five Senses 109 These three colours, red, green, and violet, are now received as primary colours, because they are the only three pure colours in the spectrum which, when combined, produce a nearly perfect white. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 286/2 He [sc. Kant] attaches ideals of modesty, frankness, courage, &c., to the seven primary colours of Newton's system. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 10 The simplest form of colour wheel is one containing the three primary colours. 1996 She Apr. 150/1 In this light and airy house, the owners began with a blank canvas—white walls, tiles and ceilings—to which they have added splashes of primary colour. 5. Astronomy. Esp. in primary planet. Designating a planet which orbits the sun, as distinguished from a secondary planet or satellite, which orbits a planet. Formerly also: †each of the three planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (obsolete). Cf. secondary adj. 3d. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > [noun] primary planet1664 primary1703 1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iii. 163 Who can imagine that any of the primary Planets were wholly designed for the service of Us and our Earth? 1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Primary Planets (according to some) are the Three Superior Planets, viz. Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars; but more properly a Primary Planet is one that moves round the Sun, as its Centre; whereas a Secondary Planet moves round some other Planet. 1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. i. §47. 99 The Secondary Planets of Jupiter gravitate towards Jupiter..and both the Primary and Secondary Planets gravitate towards the Sun. 1814 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. II. ii. viii. 339 The elliptical motions of the planets, both primary and secondary. 1884 Zadkiel's Alm. 40 The Moon forms benefic aspects with the primary planets. 1991 Notes & Rec. Royal Soc. 45 20 A corollary to Kepler's Third Law of planetary motion..namely, that the cubes of the mean distances of the ‘primary’ planets orbiting the Sun are proportional to the squares of their periods of revolution. 6. Medicine. Of a symptom, disorder, etc.: not caused by another disease or condition. Also: designating the earliest symptoms or stage of certain chronic infectious diseases (esp. syphilis and tuberculosis). Cf. secondary adj. 5f. ΚΠ 1670 H. Stubbe Legends No Hist. 28 He that tells me the disease [sc. sweating-sickness] is a Pestilent Feaver, and the Sweat is an effect of nature endeavouring to expell the Malignity: puts me upon some thoughts that I should not have, if I took the Sweating to be the primary disease. 1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Idiopathie, in Physick, a primary Disease. 1714 J. Browne Inst. Physick 327 From the Place affected with Repletion and Obstruction beneath the Diaphragm, especially if that Affection be primary, and nothing opposes it. 1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 293 Sometimes it is a primary disease, and at other times only a symptom of some other malady. 1800 W. Blair Ess. Venereal Dis. ii.v. 276 The symptoms of a confirmed syphilis are less easily detected and recognised than those of the primary disease. 1864 W. Aitken Sci. & Pract. Med. (ed. 3) II. iii. 67 That the ‘white-blood’ disease proceeded from a primary affection of the spleen and lymphatic glands. 1894 J. C. DaCosta Man. Mod. Surg. xv. 168 Primary syphilis is not auto-inoculable, but is hetero-inoculable. 1908 W. Osler & T. McCrae Syst. Med. IV. 679 The disease is due to a primary hyperplasia of the erythroblastic bone-marrow. 1964 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 37 885/2 Our chief interest in testing the new drug..was to determine its efficacy in cases of primary and secondary gout. 1997 Endocrinol. Jrnl. 44 367 Primary hyperparathyroidism with mild hypercalcemia is associated with psychiatric disturbances and reduced bone density. 7. Philosophy. Designating those properties (such as extension, shape, and number) which bodies necessarily have, which are found in every part of matter, and which do not vary with the forces acting upon them (this last claim is disputed by Berkeley and later philosophers). Opposed to secondary adj. 3c(b).The distinction between primary and secondary qualities is famously expounded in Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) and has been seen by modern historians of philosophy as characteristic of the ‘mechanical’ philosophy of the 17th cent. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > [adjective] > of or relating to substance > primary or secondary qualities secondary1656 primary1671 1671 J. Locke Ess. conc. Understanding: Draft B (1931) §94. 199 Two primary qualities or properties of body, viz., extension and cohesion of parts, we perfectly know and have distinct, clear ideas of. 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. viii. 56 We may..observe these primary ones [sc. qualities] in Bodies, that produce simple Ideas in us, viz. Solidity, Extension, Motion or Rest, Number and figure. 1713 G. Berkeley Three Dialogues Hylas & Philonous 13 Men are more easily weaned from believing the eternal Existence of the Secondary, than the Primary Qualities. 1782 J. Balfour Philos. Diss. 177 With regard to matter, the primary qualities which we discover by our senses are, extension, divisibility, and solidity. 1810 D. Stewart Philos. Ess. i. ii. ii. 95 The line which I would draw between primary and secondary qualities is this; that the former necessarily involve the notion of extension, and consequently of externality or outness. 1856 J. F. Ferrier Inst. Metaphysic (ed. 2) v. v. 148 It is through our perceptions, and not through our sensations, that we are made acquainted with the primary qualities of matter. 1912 W. James Ess. Radical Empiricism v. 147 Even the primary qualities are undergoing the same fate. Hardness and softness are effects on us of atomic interactions. 1949 A. Pap Elem. Analyt. Philos. vii. 128 The only legitimate distinction between ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ qualities is that between measurable qualities..and non-measurable qualities. 1997 D. Park Fire within Eye ii. 37 Atoms..have only what are called primary qualities, in this case those appropriate to a particle: size, shape, position, and motion, perhaps weight, but nothing more. 8. Politics (esp. U.S.). Designating an election, meeting, etc., at which a preliminary selection of delegates or of candidates for office takes place; esp. in primary election. Cf. sense B. 7. ΘΚΠ society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > selection of candidates > meeting for preliminary selection > an election at primary election1789 1789 Times 25 Nov. 2/3 The primary assemblies shall choose their electors from among citizens of their own departments. 1801 Spirit of Farmers' Museum 61 The Editor of the Gazette of the United States..notices the ‘Primary Assemblies’ of our towns. 1821 Massachusetts Spy 11 Apr. 3/3 This was all the hocus-pocus of a primary caucus. 1829 Niles' Reg. 36 363/2 The battle is in reality fought in the primary meetings, and not on the day appointed by law for the election. 1835 C. P. Bradley Biogr. Isaac Hill 54 The freemen of the State were called upon to give at their primary elections, an expression of their opinion. 1885 Cent. Mag. Apr. 825 Nine out of ten of our wealthy and educated men..are really ignorant of the nature of a caucus, or a primary meeting, and never attend either. 1961 Atlanta Constit. 4 Nov. 1 An investigation of Atlanta's recent primary election produced ‘no evidence’ that any irregularities took place. 2002 Nation (N.Y.) 11 Nov. 16/2 In this year's Oklahoma primary election, an electrical worker..with intensive union support..routed..a leading promoter of the hated right-to-work statute. 9. Education. Designating a school, pupil, or educational system of the first or elementary level; of or relating to primary education.Recorded earliest in primary school n. at Compounds.See also primary age n., primary education n., primary instruction n., primary scholar n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > child > [adjective] smalla1325 impuberala1856 impubic1876 impuberate1880 primary age1893 primary1908 preadolescent1910 subadolescent1910 subteenage1939 rising fives1968 1792 Times 20 Dec. 3/3 In a discussion relative to the Primary Schools, Dupont exclaimed—I will confess that I am an Atheist. 1839 A. D. Bache Rep. Educ. in Europe in N. Amer. Rev. (1840) July 40 Some of the schools for primary teachers in Prussia, France, Holland, and Switzerland. 1873 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 519/1 One of the most hopeful characteristics of modern primary teaching..is..a tendency to exalt right habits of learning over recitable results. 1908 A. Ruhl Other Americans x. 173 In the gymnasium four little primary girls were imitating..the gestures of the elocution teacher. 1940 Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 7 Aug. 7/6 All heard fairy tales read to them profusely..through the primary grades. 1979 F. Iyayi Violence xxi. 291 It was the village she had left many years ago after completing her primary schooling to marry Obofun. 2002 Times Educ. Suppl. 27 Sept. (Going Places) 19/4 Coach parties of senior citizens..express the same wonderment and excitement as the primary pupils. 10. Medicine. Of a neoplasm: located in the organ or tissue of origin (esp. as opposed to being metastatic). Cf. secondary n. 13. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [adjective] > tumour > other tumours sublated1647 polypous1684 polypose1722 extravasate1728 flatulent1730 primary1793 mammary1804 osteosarcomatous1825 polypoid1827 carcinoid1830 homoeomorphous1832 melanoid1839 polypiform1846 tyromatous1848 non-malignant1852 extravasated1853 adenomatous1863 histioid1864 histoid1865 myxomatous1872 small-cell1872 lymphadenomatous1873 polypoidal1873 lymphomatous1876 myomatous1876 lympho-sarcomatous1880 haematomatous1886 fibro-lipomatous1889 teratomatous1891 mixed1892 fibro-adenomatous1894 psammomatous1897 tunnelled1898 mycosic1899 radioresistant1922 melanomatous1943 sarcoid-like1943 paragangliomatous1965 oncofetal1972 1793 J. Pearson Pract. Observ. Cancerous Complaints 5 I have never yet met with an unequivocal proof of a primary Scirrhus in an absorbent gland. 1844 Lancet 21 Feb. 735/2 Seven or eight cases of primary malignant disease of the lungs had come under his notice. 1880 H. Osgood in tr. H. W. von Ziemssen Cycl. Pract. Med. IX. 344 Under the name of primary melanotic endothelioma of the liver, Block recently described a case of diffuse or infiltrated pigment cancer. 1923 Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 11 317 Carcinoma in the breast, with which Paget's disease of the nipple is usually associated, is a primary carcinoma of the breast epithelium. 1986 Cancer 57 1350 The findings..could be very useful for differentiating whether such a tumor is primary or metastatic. 2000 J. Mann Murder, Magic, & Med. (rev. ed.) iv. 232 More insidious they also have the propensity to break away from their primary growth site (primary tumour) and metastasize to other sites, where they produce secondary tumours. 11. Geology. Originally: designating rocks believed to have been formed before the appearance of life on the earth; = primitive adj. 8. In later use also (in form Primary): = Palaeozoic adj. 1 (now rare). Cf. secondary adj. 5b. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [adjective] > pre-Cambrian primitive1779 primordial1794 primary1795 Protozoic1838 prozoic1845 Cryptozoic1911 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [adjective] > primary or Palaeozoic primal1858 primordial1859 primary1871 1795 J. Hutton Theory Earth I. 421 The Theory of interchanging Sea and Land illustrated by an Investigation of the Primary and Secondary Strata. 1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iv. 168 Rocks are generally divided by geologists into two grand divisions, distinguished by the names of primary and secondary... The primary rocks are composed of pure crystalline matter, and contain no fragments of other rocks. 1854 D. Brewster More Worlds iii. 44 The Primary formations consist of granite rocks, trap, syenite, and porphyry. 1871 C. Lyell Student's Elem. Geol. (1884) viii. 105 Tabular view of the Fossiliferous Strata..Post-Tertiary..Tertiary or Cainozoic..Secondary or Mesozoic..Primary or Palæozoic. 1871 C. Lyell Student's Elem. Geol. xxiii. 344 The..Permian rocks are more connected with the Primary or Palæozoic than with the Secondary or Mesozoic strata. 1921 A. L. Guerard French Civilization iii. 44 The geological map of France offers two great tertiary basins, the Aquitanian and the Parisian, all but separated by two great masses of primary rocks, Armorica and the Central Mountains. 1958 A. S. Romer in S. A. Barnett Century of Darwin vi. 140 The older ‘Secondary’ rocks contain a quite distinct type of life, in which mammals were absent and reptiles were prominent; still further back were ‘Primary’ rocks in which land animals were absent and older creations of invertebrates and fishes constituted the faunas. 1968 R. J. H. Church West Afr. ii. 14 Gently folded or unfolded Primary rocks, which have been strongly dissected, are responsible for the impressive relief of much of the Fouta Djallon of Guinea. 12. Grammar. Designating any of various tenses or moods used in the narration of present or future events, esp. the Latin and Greek present, future, and future perfect, as well as the Latin perfect when used with reference to completed action (rather than with an aorist sense). Opposed to secondary adj. and n. Additions, historic adj. 4. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > other specific tenses primary1813 principal1818 prospective1893 past future1904 expanded1931 1813 G. Dunbar Anal. Formation Radical Tenses Greek Verb 40 The system which Grammarians have all along adopted, with regard to the primary and secondary tenses as they have been absurdly denominated, has led them to form by analogy, tenses of certain verbs, which I firmly believe were never in existence in the Greek language. 1844 A. Crosby Gram. Greek Lang. i. v. 417 In complementary sentences, where doubt is expressed, and a primary tense precedes, the subjunctive is sometimes used. 1871 B. H. Kennedy Public School Lat. Gram. §195 The General Rule is: Primary Tenses in the Principal Sentence are followed by Primary Tenses in the Clause: Historic by Historic. 1913 J. E. Sandys Compan. to Lat. Stud. (ed. 2) x. 823 As a rule he begins with a subordinate clause in a secondary tense and follows it up by another with a primary tense. 1964 German Q. 37 338 In dealing with the verb, the primary tenses, then the secondary are treated. 2007 G. Betts & D. Franklin Beginning Lat. Poetry Reader 252 A primary tense in the main verb..is followed by a primary tense of the subjunctive; a secondary tense in the main verb..is followed by a historic tense of the subjunctive. †13. Crystallography. = primitive adj. 10. Cf. secondary adj. 3i. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > structures and forms > [adjective] > miscellaneous other primitive1807 subtractive1807 based1810 emarginated1816 planoconvex1816 primary1823 hemisystematic1878 face-centred1913 body-centred1918 mosaic1934 1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 75 These secondary molecules would consist of certain numbers of primary ones arranged in the same order as they would be in the production of the entire secondary crystals. 1833 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 1815–30 2 228 Having given the plane, or dihedral angles of any crystal, and its primary form, we can..deduce the laws of decrement according to which it is constituted. 1851 G. F. Richardson Geol. (1855) v. 85 We can invariably, by a careful dissection of the crystal, extract from it a nucleus which has constantly the same form in the same mineral species... Such a nucleus is called a primary form. 14. a. Originally (of an electric current): †supplied directly by a cell or battery, as opposed to being induced (obsolete). Now, with reference to a transformer or other device utilizing induction: of, relating to, or carrying the input electrical power. Cf. secondary adj. 3j(a). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > [adjective] > primary primary1835 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > transformer > [adjective] > carrying input primary1896 1835 M. Faraday in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 125 48 The conducting power of the connecting system A B D was sufficient to carry all the primary current. 1837 M. Faraday in Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 1 177 These experiments establishing..a distinction between the primary or generating current and the extra current, led me to conclude that the latter was identical with the induced current described..in the first series of these researches. 1857 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 20 Feb. 206/1 The effect of the passage of the voltaic current through the primary coil is to develop magnetism. 1896 F. Bedell Princ. Transformer i. 3 The primary electromotive force..is equal to the product of the number of primary turns, and the rate at which the magnetic flux in the magnetic circuit is changing. 1929 A. T. Dover Electr. Traction (ed. 2) x. 281 The primary winding..has tappings to give 1000, 800, and 220 volts. 1938 R. M. Kerchner & G. F. Corcoran Alternating-Current Circuits vii. 193 The primary current could thus be made to lead or lag the primary voltage by adjusting the degree of coupling between the two transformer windings. 1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 1082/1 Toroidal transformers with two independent primary windings which may be connected in series for 240 V operation or parallel for 120 V operation. b. Of a cell or battery: generating electricity by an irreversible chemical reaction, and therefore unable to store electrical energy supplied to it. Cf. secondary adj. 3j(b). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > voltaic or galvanic battery > [adjective] > not capable of storage primary1874 1874 Scribner's Monthly May 123/1 If after a time the Bunsen battery is discontinued, and the wires of the secondary battery are brought into communication, a powerful current passes for some minutes; the apparatus acting as a sort of condensor to store up the electricity produced by the primary battery. 1882 Engineer 19 May 365/2 The distinction between a primary and a secondary battery is in no sense an important one when we are considering either as the producer of a current. 1922 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 59/2 Polarisation is one of the difficulties encountered in all primary cells. 1971 H. A. Romanowitz Introd. Electr. Circuits ii. 36 The wet cells and dry cells just described, which are not rechargeable, are classified as primary cells. 1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 8/1 A range of popular sizes of primary (non-rechargeable) button cells suitable for use in calculators, cameras, clocks, watches, etc. 15. Ornithology. Designating any of the large flight feathers of a bird's wing, growing from the manus. Also: designating any of the smaller feathers (coverts) that cover the bases of these Cf. secondary adj. 6a. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > having wings > having feathers on > relating to particular feathers prime1637 primary1839 tertiary1858 remigial1879 tectricial1891 1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. vii. 162 When these birds [sc. Scissor-beaks] are fishing, the length of the primary feathers of the wings is seen to be quite necessary, in order to keep the latter dry. 1894–5 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. III. 343 Starlings..all agree in possessing a wing with five primary quills, and twelve tail-feathers. 1939 T. L. Green Pract. Animal Biol. i. 187 Quill feathers..are large and consist of two types, a. Remiges or wing-quills in which the two halves of the vane are of unequal width, and which can be further divided into primary quills attached to the bones of the manus and secondary quills attached to the ulna. 1987 E. W. Burr Compan. Bird Med. xxvi. 175/2 The functional clip consists of clipping the first six to eleven primary flight feathers, up to or just under the primary coverts. 1990 Compl. Angler's Guide Spring 20/3 Many fly dressers..practise producing wings with grey duck primary quills. 16. Biology. Belonging to or directly derived from the first stage of development or growth, and (often) forming the foundation of the subsequent structure (cf. sense A. 3a). Cf. primitive adj. 7b, secondary adj. 5c. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [adjective] > growth > stages of primordial1786 primitive1833 primary1844 secondary1857 1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. i. 34 This membrane is termed the basement or primary membrane. 1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 165 In no system of the skeleton are bones a primary formation of the animal: they are the result of transmutations of pre-existing tissues. 1885 G. L. Goodale in A. Gray & G. L. Goodale Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 6) II. i. iii. 119 The primary cortex consists essentially of parenchyma in which isolated cells of a peculiar character may often be found. 1914 M. Drummond tr. G. Haberlandt Physiol. Plant Anat. i. 61 More often..it [sc. the middle lamella] also comprises the primary thickening layers. 1953 K. Esau Plant Anat. iv. 77 If these cells [that give origin to the meristem] are the direct descendants of the embryonic cells..the meristems are called primary. 1960 D. C. Braungart & R. Buddeke Introd. Animal Biol. (ed. 5) v. 67 The three cell layers of an embryo, the ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm, are called the three primary germ layers, because from fundaments derived from one or the other of these three layers of cells or from combinations of two or more of them all tissues and organs of the adult animal are developed. 1995 P. F. S. Cornelius et al. in P. J. Hayward & J. S. Ryland Handbk. Marine Fauna N.W. Europe iv. 70/2 Hydrozoans are typified by sessile polyp and free-swimming medusa generations in the life cycle... The planula settles and develops into a primary polyp from which a new colony grows, completing the life cycle. 17. In the context of academic research or writing: designating source material contemporary with the period or thing studied; designating an original document, source, or text rather than one of criticism, discussion, or summary. ΚΠ 1844 Foreign Q. Rev. Jan. 350 If the primary evidence be wanting—if the original deed be lost or destroyed, we must have recourse to secondary evidence. 1898 Amer. Hist. Rev. 3 385 They are not mere studies from secondary authorities..but contain ample evidence of serious work among the best primary sources. 1936 F. N. House Devel. Sociol. x. 115 So involved and voluminous are Comte's own works..that such a competent analysis and summary is more serviceable to the average student than are the primary texts. 1969 Listener 1 May 594/1 Old newsreels, live film..of men and events—home movies, for that matter—are primary sources. 2003 M. Byrnes in A. H. Sturgis Presidents from Hayes through McKinley Foreword p. ix The series combines description and analysis of those issues with excerpts from primary documents that illustrate the position of the presidents and their opponents. 18. Chemistry. a. Designating hydrocarbons regarded as the fundamental units from which all organic compounds can be derived by substitution. Cf. A. 3d. Now historical. ΚΠ 1852 H. Watts tr. L. Gmelin Hand-bk. Chem. VII. 18 If the nuclei contain nothing but hydrogen in addition to the carbon, they are called Primary Nuclei [Ger. Stammkerne]. 1907 J. B. Cohen Org. Chem. Adv. Students I. i. 18 Laurent assumed that every organic compound contained a hydrocarbon nucleus or radical. These were the primary nuclei (noyaux fondamentaux) and were so chosen that the elements composing them were present in even numbers. 1929 L. A. Coles Introd. Mod. Org. Chem. xxxvi. 426 Laurent..regarded organic compounds as derived from hydrocarbons or ‘primary radicals’, from which ‘secondary radicals’..were derived by substitution. b. Originally: †designating compounds regarded as being derived from any of four molecules (water, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen), by replacement of one hydrogen atom by an organic radical (obsolete). In later use: designating ammonia derivatives and, in extended use, analogous derivatives of other elements, esp. phosphorus, in which one hydrogen atom has been replaced by an organic radical. Cf. secondary adj. 3l(a). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [adjective] > of or relating to compounds > derived from H2O, HCl, H or esp. NH3 primary1854 1854 Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 6 195 The amides thus produced, which we shall call primary amides, represent a molecule of ammonia in which 1 atom of hydrogen is replaced by the negative radicals. 1888 C. L. Bloxam Chem. (ed. 6) 586 The amides, like the amines..may be primary, secondary, or tertiary accordingly as one, two, or three atoms of H in the NH₃ group has been replaced. 1889 G. M'Gowan tr. A. Bernthsen Text-bk. Org. Chem. 119 Just as amines are derived from ammonia, so from phosphuretted hydrogen, PH₃, are derived primary, secondary, and tertiary phosphines by the exchange of hydrogen for alcoholic radicals. 1965 Nomencl. Org. Chem. (I.U.P.A.C.) C. 176 The generic name ‘amine’ is applied to compounds NH₂R, NHR¹R², and NR¹R²R³, which are called primary, secondary, and tertiary amines, respectively. 1982 G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman Chem. in Context: Lab. Man. & Study Guide 114/2 The simplest primary amines are CH₃NH₂, methylamine, and CH₃CH₂NH₂, ethylamine. c. Of an alcohol or other organic compound: having the characteristic functional group located on a saturated carbon atom which is itself bonded to not more than one other carbon atom. Cf. secondary adj. 3l(b), tertiary adj. 1b(a).For amines, etc., see sense A. 18b. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > [adjective] > organic structure primary1864 quaternary1871 vicinal1898 secondary1903 tertiary1903 the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > [adjective] > organic structure > organic compound structure primary1864 secondary1864 tertiary1872 1864 Chem. News 26 Nov. 260/1 Primary alcohol. 1888 H. F. Morley & M. M. P. Muir Watts' Dict. Chem. (rev. ed.) I. 100/1 In the primary alcohols the carbon-atom joined to the hydroxyl is connected immediately with only one other carbon atom. 1929 L. A. Coles Introd. Mod. Org. Chem. xii. 140 Methyl and ethyl alcohol are the two most important members of the primary alcohol series. 1968 J. March Adv. Org. Chem. ix. 866 Primary alcohols or aldehydes can be converted directly to nitriles by air oxidation in the presence of ammonia, a strong base..and a copper complex. 1993 Jrnl. Physical Chem. 97 653/1 The subsequent reactions of the primary aldehyde (propionaldehyde)..are believed to proceed through a surface enolate intermediate. d. Designating or involving a saturated carbon atom in an organic compound which is bonded to only one other carbon atom, the other bonds being to hydrogen atoms or functional groups. Also (of an ion or a free radical): having (respectively) the electric charge or the unpaired electron located on a primary carbon atom. Cf. secondary adj. 3l(c), tertiary adj. 1b(c). ΚΠ 1902 J. B. Cohen Theoret. Org. Chem. vi. 81 When the halogen is attached to an end carbon atom, or is present in a group, ·CH₂X, the group is called a primary group. 1926 H. G. Rule tr. J. Schmidt Text-bk. Org. Chem. 70 When a carbon atom is combined in such a manner that only one of its four valencies is satisfied by carbon, it is termed a primary carbon atom. 1968 J. March Adv. Org. Chem. ix. 866 Primary amines at a primary carbon can be dehydrogenated to nitriles. 1972 R. O. C. Norman & D. J. Waddington Mod. Org. Chem. ix. 116 A tertiary carbonium ion is a relatively more stable species than a primary carbonium ion..and is formed much faster. 1987 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 109 2176/2 Initial ionization occurred cleanly at the primary carbon. 19. Biology. Designating sexual characteristics and organs (esp. testes and ovaries) that are essential to reproduction and are determined directly by the genetic sex, usually without hormonal intervention. Cf. secondary adj. 3n. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > sex organs > [adjective] privyc1325 pudendal1772 pudical1787 pudic1795 sexual1825 copulatory1836 copulative1855 primary1871 perigenital1953 1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man I. viii. 253 With animals which have their sexes separated, the males necessarily differ from the females in their organs of reproduction; and these are the primary sexual characters. 1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man I. viii. 254 Unless..we confine the term ‘primary’ to the reproductive glands, it is scarcely possible to decide which ought to be called primary and which secondary. 1894 H. Ellis Man & Woman ii. 18 When we are dealing with Man it is perhaps most convenient to set aside as primary the sexual glands..and the organs for emission and reception in immediate connection with these glands. 1926 J. R. Baker Sex in Man & Animals ii. 26 The primary sexual characters are..the testes and ovaries. The accessory sexual characters are the obviously useful sex characters other than the testes and ovaries, such as the vas deferens..and the vagina... The secondary sexual characters are those which seem not to be directly concerned in reproduction, such as beards, antlers, and crests. 1977 E. J. Trimmer et al. Visual Dict. Sex (1978) xxii. 262/1 A boy castrated before puberty will fail to develop the primary and secondary sexual characteristics of a normal male. 1999 J. Burchill Married Alive x. 153 Matthew Miller is a screaming old slapper who would wedge his primary sex organ into a Jenga tower if the opening looked reasonably solid. 20. Economics. In a developed economy: designating or relating to the obtaining of natural resources in industries such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining, for use in manufacturing or for retail. ΚΠ 1876 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. London 39 735 There are 1,925,000 classed as farmers and proprietors, and 3,087,039 as labourers, engaged in ‘primary production’. 1921 H. Hoover in E. M. House & C. Seymour What really happened at Paris xiv. 342 Each nation should contribute its share of shipping to be devoted to the movement of primary commodities such as food and coal. 1930 Economist 8 Feb. 290/1 Our exporting manufacturers will be faced with lessened purchasing power in the hands of primary producers overseas. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 3/1 The basis of New Zealand's economic standards is the country's primary industries. 1974 M. B. Brown Econ. of Imperialism iv. 94 The extraction by the United States and by other developed countries of minerals and primary products from the whole world would not be regarded by classical economists as any sort of plunder. 2002 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 61 1269 In 1978, 42 percent of Chaozhou's economic output came from the primary sector. 21. Geology. (Of a mineral) that is an original constituent of the rock containing it; (of a rock) whose constituents are newly formed particles that have undergone no alteration since formation; spec. designating a mineral or rock that has crystallized from magma and undergone no subsequent alteration. Cf. secondary adj. 3o. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > [adjective] > original or non-original primary1886 allogenic1888 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [adjective] > primary or hypogene hypogene1833 nether-formed1833 protogenic1877 primary1886 1886 J. Geikie Outl. Geol. xiii. 151 It is the primary or original constituents of a rock which ought to determine its species, but these are often replaced by secondary minerals, and thus it is not in all cases possible to say what were the primary minerals. 1921 Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. 24 116 In some varieties..a titaniferous lime-iron garnet comes in, together with primary calcite. 1931 A. Johannsen Descr. Petrogr. Igneous Rocks I. ii. 28 The primary minerals of the igneous rocks are comparatively few in number. 1971 B. W. Sparks Rocks & Relief iv. 132 A relatively small class of primary calcareous rocks, known as carbonatites, are [sic] associated in some areas with alkaline igneous rocks. 1993 Jrnl. Petrol. 34 472 It contains large cores of fibrous cummingtonite that apparently replaced primary orthopyroxene. 22. Physics and Astronomy. Of, relating to, or designating radiation (esp. in the form of particles) that is not produced by other radiation but which may itself produce other radiation; (of cosmic rays) originating outside the earth's atmosphere. Cf. secondary adj. 3q. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > ionizing radiation > [adjective] > relating to cosmic radiation primary1900 1900 J. S. Townsend in Proc. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 10 218 The apparatus shown..was used to determine the relative intensities of the secondary radiations given out by different bodies, and the intensity of the secondary radiation compared with that of the primary radiation which excites it. 1921 J. Scott-Taggart Thermionic Tubes i. 23 When the primary or original electron attains a velocity sufficiently high to break off electrons from the gas molecule, it will leave the latter positively charged. 1944 Ann. Reg. 1943 361 Results which they regarded as..confirming that the main part of the primary cosmic ray radiation does not consist of electrons. 1946 Electronic Engin. 18 75/1 An electrode will emit primary electrons when its temperature is raised sufficiently to overcome the work function of the material of which it is made. 2002 F. Close et al. Particle Odyssey v. 73 Collisions between primary cosmic rays and the upper atmosphere produce positive, negative, and neutral pions in vast numbers. 23. Linguistics. In phonology: designating the principal stress in a word or sentence. ΚΠ 1901 M. B. Smith tr. B. ten Brink Lang. & Metre of Chaucer i. 3 In these cases the simple accent becomes differentiated into a primary stress [Ger. Hauptton] and a weaker, secondary stress; cf. mártyrdoòm. 1951 G. L. Trager & H. L. Smith Outl. Eng. Struct. i. 36 There must be a stress phoneme whose characteristic is maximum normal loudness, which we may call primary stress. 1972 Language 48 328 In simple declarative sentences ending in a predicate, primary stress is often most naturally placed on the subject. 1996 Eng. Today 12 47/2 When pronounced in isolation or out of context..a word like relativity, for example, would have two stressed syllables... Those who recognize the primary/secondary distinction would say that the first syllable has secondary stress and the third has primary stress. 24. Ecology. a. Of a plant succession or sequence of changes in the vegetation of an area: taking place on a site not previously colonized. Cf. secondary adj. 5i. ΚΠ 1905 F. E. Clements Res. Methods Ecol. iv. 241 Primary successions..arise on newly formed soils, or upon surfaces exposed for the first time, which have in consequence never borne vegetation before. 1911 A. G. Tansley Types Brit. Vegetation Intr. 9 In the normal primary development of a formation..the associations involved show intimate relations and transitions one to another. 1952 P. W. Richards Trop. Rain Forest xii. 269 The successions or seres leading to the establishment of stable climax Rain forest are classified..into primary successions or priseres starting on soil not previously occupied by plants. 1973 P. A. Colinvaux Introd. Ecol. vi. 77 The successions so far discussed are all primary successions, that is to say they are supposed to proceed by pioneering new sites. b. Esp. in primary forest. Designating forest or woodland that has remained relatively undisturbed by human activity; (also) designating an area that has been continuously wooded since ancient times. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [adjective] > wooded > types of bushya1382 ramagea1500 boskya1616 brakya1637 brushy1658 brushed1666 scrubbya1687 pine barrenc1721 bush-grown1837 stumpy1838 bush-skirted1858 bushed1868 bush-covered1873 bush-fringed1891 bush-clad1909 primary forest1909 1909 Geogr. Jrnl. 34 682 Very definite conclusions as to the prospects of forest-exploitation are not yet possible, but the opinion is expressed that it is only the primary forest which would repay systematic attempts at conservation. 1952 P. W. Richards Trop. Rain Forest ii. 29 It seems likely that this forest has suffered disturbance in the past and is old secondary rather than truly primary. 1996 Independent (Nexis) 20 Apr. 13 A measly (by comparison) 300,000 hectares is ancient, or primary, woodland, such as can be seen in Hatfield Forest in Essex. 2004 Guardian (Nexis) 18 Mar. 5 After exhausting most of Indonesia's primary rainforests, illegal loggers have turned to national parks. 25. Esp. in primary air. Designating air admitted to the fuel in a burner or furnace at or before the earliest stage of combustion. Cf. secondary adj. 3w. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > gas > air > [noun] > specific air > admitted to fuel in furnace primary air1915 1915 Proc. Royal Soc. 1914–15 A. 91 245 A typical modern gas fire consists of a series of atmospheric burner nozzles..arranged equidistantly along a common horizontal supply pipe provided with a suitable means for properly adjusting the relative gas and primary air supplies. 1931 Engineering 9 Jan. 39/3 The primary air and coal enter at the side of the burner through a long, narrow port. 2000 P. W. B. Semmens & A. J. Goldfinch How Steam Locomotives really Work ii. 33 The fireman can control the amount of primary air entering the bottom of the firebox by means of dampers. 26. Seismology. Esp. in primary wave. Designating an earthquake P wave. Cf. secondary adj. 3u. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > convulsion > [adjective] > earthquake terremotive1837 seismic1858 seismical1869 earthquaking1881 seismotic1889 principal1899 macroseismic1903 primary wave1919 seismal1977 1912 Nature 5 Sept. 4/2 The usual seismographic record shows three chief groups of disturbances, due respectively to the longitudinal and transverse waves through the core..and to the superficial waves round the crust. These..are complicated and supplemented by reflections of the deep waves at the surface, and sometimes by twin earthquakes caused by the primary.] 1919 Proc. Royal Soc. Edinb. 39 161 Tables familiar to all seismologists, in which times of transit of the primary and secondary waves are expressed in terms of the arcual distances of the stations of observation from the..epicentre. 1968 R. A. Lyttleton Myst. Solar Syst. ii. 56 The velocity of the primary waves..is always essentially faster than that of the secondary waves. 1992 Pixel Mar. 20/1 Earthquakes generate various kinds of waves, including P, S and surface waves. P-waves are the initial primary sound waves. 27. Medicine. Designating or relating to health care provided in the community, esp. by the staff of a general practice, for routine patient care and for those making an initial approach for medical advice or treatment. Frequently in primary care. Cf. secondary adj. ΚΠ 1920 Times 24 May 10/3 The establishment of what have been called primary health centres throughout every country. 1967 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 19 Oct. 848/1 Primary medical care..refers to first-contact care. 1967 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 19 Oct. 848/1 Primary care does not have to be provided by physicians, but it should probably be supervised and monitored by them. 1999 G. Cannon in G. Tansey & J. D'Silva Meat Business xi. 115 The economic benefits of primary health care, including prevention and screening for cancer. 28. Ecology. Designating an organism in a particular community which is either a producer, or belongs to the lowest trophic level among the consumers of the community; of or relating to such an organism. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > balance of nature > organisms in relation to habitat > [adjective] fieldya1382 waterya1382 agrestial1608 subterranean1638 lucifugous1654 nemoral1656 subcutaneous1664 subterraneous1832 subtidal1852 xylophilous1862 xerophilous1863 acid-loving1870 aerobic1878 aerobian1879 aerobious1879 aerobiotic1880 subaquatic1880 aerophilous1885 facultative1887 pelagic1887 aerophile1888 autotrophic1893 heterotrophic1893 plastic1893 thermophilic1894 thermophil1896 mesophilic1897 halolimnic1898 polybathic1898 tolerant1898 limnetic1899 thermophilous1899 metatrophic1900 mixotrophic1900 paratrophic1900 mesophilous1901 benthic1902 epibenthic1902 eurybathic1902 microaerophilic1903 sympatric1904 benthoal1905 cryophile1907 benthonic1909 microaerophile1909 lenitic1916 lotic1916 psychrotolerant1924 oligosaprobic1925 polysaprobic1925 aerophilic1929 saprobic1932 primary1934 lentic1935 chemoautotrophic1936 eurytopic1937 psammic1938 saprotrophic1942 prototrophic1946 chemolithoautotrophic1949 auxotrophic1950 chemolithotrophic1953 chemoorganotrophic1953 opportunist1956 psychrophile1956 psychrophilic1958 opportunistic1960 psychrotrophic1960 oligosaprobe1990 1893 W. K. Brooks in Mem. Biol. Lab. Johns Hopkins Univ. 2 148 A few forms are so predominant that..we may regard the great primary food-supply as made up of two simple protozoa, Globigerina and the Radiolarians, and some five or six unicellular plants.] 1934 Q. Rev. Biol. 9 163/1 In connection with..his phrase (‘primary food supply’) which I have undertaken to use, Brooks gives..a meaning somewhat more comprehensive than that which I prefer... It suits my purpose better to confine the usage to the microscopic plants equipped with chlorophyll and capable of manufacturing carbohydrates from raw materials. 1953 E. P. Odum Fund. Ecol. iv. 82 In speaking of productivity, it is important to distinguish between the basic or primary productivity..and consumer or secondary productivity. 1976 S. B. Chapman in Methods in Plant Ecol. iv. 161 Primary production is the production of organic matter by photosynthesis. 1993 E. N. K. Clarkson Invertebr. Palaeontol. & Evol. (ed. 3) i. 14/2 Small planktic animals are the primary consumers (herbivores and detritus eaters); there are secondary (carnivores) and tertiary consumers (top carnivores) in turn. 29. Psychology. Relating to abilities or traits which appear basic to other aspects of intelligence or personality. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of personality > testing of personality > [adjective] > relating to basic traits primary1936 the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > test of mental ability > factor analysis > [adjective] > revealed as basic attributes primary1936 1936 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 48 680 Factor analysis has again and again revealed similar lists of primary abilities, including such factors as verbality, numerical ability, space perception, retentivity, mental speed, and the like. 1958 K. Lovell Educ. Psychol. & Children iii. 58 Thurstone has termed these primary mental abilities and claims that they are found both in very young children and in adults. 1970 L. J. Bischof Interpreting Personality Theories (ed. 2) vi. xii. 464 In his current work, Cattell calls the source traits Primary Personality Factors. With few exceptions, the Primary Personality Factors are bipolar or dichotomized. 1995 P. A. Tyler in C. Hollin Contemp. Psychol. vi. 111 It has been of enormous interest to psychologists in this field to know how many ‘primary’ personality characteristics there are, and these psychologists have disagreed dramatically over the proposed number. 2001 A. M. Colman Dict. Psychol. 581/2 Primary mental abilities..are labelled verbal comprehension (V), word fluency (W), number (N), spatial ability (S), associative memory (M), perceptual speed (P), and reasoning (R) or induction (I). 30. Esp. in primary radar. Designating radar in which the transmitted signal is reflected by the target (in contrast to secondary radar, in which receipt of the transmitted signal by the target triggers the generation of a return signal). Cf. secondary adj. 3x. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [adjective] > radar > types of sideways-looking1832 primary radar1945 shoran1946 passive1954 monopulse1955 back scatter1957 monostatic1957 side-looking1959 side scan1961 lookdown1968 1945 R. Watson-Watt in Nature 15 Sept. 323/2 Primary radar is that form of radar which ‘does not require the co-operation of the object to be located’. 1960 T. J. Morgan Radar xii. 137 The measurement of the wind direction and velocity was carried out by means of direction finding stations, then later by primary radar. 2004 9/11 Comm. Rep. (National Comm. Terrorist Attacks U.S.) i. 29 At 9:41, Cleveland Center lost United 93's transponder signal. The controller located it on primary radar, matched its position with visual sightings from other aircraft, and tracked the flight as it turned east, then south. B. n. 1. A person who or thing which is first in order, rank, or importance; anything from which something else arises or is derived; a first principle. Usually in plural. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] welleOE mothereOE ordeOE wellspringeOE fathereOE headeOE oreOE wellspringOE rootc1175 morea1200 beginningc1200 head wella1325 sourcec1374 principlea1382 risinga1382 springinga1382 fountain14.. springerc1410 nativity?a1425 racinea1425 spring1435 headspring?a1439 seminaryc1440 originationc1443 spring wellc1450 sourdre1477 primordialc1487 naissance1490 wellhead?1492 offspringa1500 conduit-head1517 damc1540 springhead1547 principium1550 mint1555 principal1555 centre1557 head fountain1563 parentage1581 rise1589 spawna1591 fount1594 parent1597 taproot1601 origin1604 fountainhead1606 radix1607 springa1616 abundary1622 rist1622 primitive1628 primary1632 land-spring1642 extraction1655 upstart1669 progenerator1692 fontala1711 well-eye1826 first birth1838 ancestry1880 Quelle1893 the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical reasoning > [noun] > deductivism or a priori reasoning > axioms philosophia prima1605 outlines1691 basis1796 primordial1813 generalia1843 prima philosophia1845 primary1846 axiomatic1927 1632 H. Reynolds Mythomystes 41 He should neither commit [the interpretation of the Law] to letters nor diuulge; but he to Iosua only and Iosua to the other succeeding primaries among the Priests. 1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 60 Intellection likewise, must be two-fold, one of Primaries, the other of Secondaries. 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 144 Where any secondary agents attempt to defeat the power of their primaries. 1846 G. S. Faber Lett. Tractarian Secession Popery 248 Though there may be occasional disagreement in subordinates, there is a very singular and a very striking agreement in primaries. 1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith Introd. §5. 13 Every science..begins with primaries or with ultimates. 1987 G. Bear Forge of God (1988) 90 Perhaps the Guest's people..had advanced to the point of purity: only the primaries, the smart folks, left alive. 2. Astronomy. A primary planet (cf. sense A. 5). ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > [noun] primary planet1664 primary1703 1703 Philos. Trans. 1702–3 (Royal Soc.) 23 1313 All the Secundary Planets in turning round their Primary, are kept in their Orbits by the force of gravity, whose direction is towards the Centres of their respective Primaries. 1734 tr. P. L. M. de Maupertuis Diss. Cœlestial Bodies 33 in J. Keill Exam. Burnet's Theory of Earth (ed. 2) We see that the Sun attracting the Planets, is the Cause why they move round him, as the attraction of the Primaries confines their Secondaries. 1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) iii. x. 58 The only satellite which takes a longer time to revolve round its primary than our Moon, is Iapetus, the eighth satellite of Saturn. 1920 Discovery May 136/2 While a satellite in a direct orbit would..perhaps be forced ultimately to leave its primary altogether, one of these ‘retrograde’ satellites might survive. 1997 Nature 27 Mar. 319/2 A moon orbiting a superjovian planet outside the normally accepted habitable zone might be able to support liquid water, thanks to the added heat flux from its primary. 3. Ornithology. A primary flight feather (cf. sense A. 15). Usually in plural. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > wing or wings > feather(s) on > primary feather(s) flags1486 pinion feather1486 pinion1545 pen-feather1602 quill feather1678 remexa1705 flight1735 flight-feather1735 primary1776 rower1835 remicle1887 pen plume1899 1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) II. ii. 525 Primaries and tail black. 1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 9 The primaries or principal quills..form the termination of the wing. 1883 H. N. Martin & W. A. Moale Handbk. Vertebr. Dissect. ii. 99 The primaries are ten in number and are inserted upon the manus. 1952 M. K. Wilson tr. K. Z. Lorenz King Solomon's Ring i. 6 The goose flying second on the left of the triangular phalanx had lost a primary. 1990 Birds Mag. Summer 49/1 It is not difficult to imagine the great wingspan of the sea eagle; dark primaries stretched apart like long fingers. 4. A primary electrical circuit, current, coil, etc. (cf. sense A. 14a). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > [noun] > primary primary1837 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > voltaic or galvanic battery > [noun] > primary battery > coil in primary1837 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > [noun] > primary primary1869 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > transformer > [noun] > primary circuit primary1869 1837 M. Faraday in Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 1 200 The renitency encountered in the conductors will necessarily exercise a due influence in lessening the force of secondary currents, but cannot be made available as a cause of the comparative atony which these currents, by the initial impulses of the primary, invariably display. 1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 490 The coil of thick wire is called the primary. 1869 Eng. Mech. 17 Dec. 335/2 The core and primary are enclosed in an ebonite cylinder. 1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures iii. 36 Modulation of the voltage is accomplished through a transformer, the primary of which is supplied with the speech recording current coming from the microphone. 1992 Mod. Railways Mar. 150/3 The data to be transmitted to the train from the trackside signal is injected..into the primary of the transformer as a modulated current. 5. A primary colour (cf. sense A. 4). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > [noun] > primary colours primitivea1806 primary1848 tristimulus1933 1848 R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting vi. 211 Although there are but three primitive colours, painters have nine. These are—Yellow, Red, Blue, which are primary; Orange, Purple, Green, which are secondary, being compounds of the primaries [etc.]. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 586/2 The eye supplies the absent primary, blue. 1934 C. Hartshorne Philos. & Psychol. Sensation vii. 223 Another advantage of the system..is that it divides the circle of hues into more nearly equal steps between primaries. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 14 If the three primaries are placed on a white background the reverse will happen. 1998 J. A. Lee in V. C. De Munck Romantic Love & Sexual Behavior ii. 335 All these colors have a structure. There are primaries (such as red) and secondaries (such as orange, a mix of red and yellow). 6. a. Originally U.S., now chiefly British. A primary school. Cf. sense A. 9. ΘΚΠ society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > primary school under-school1629 primer schoola1680 proseminary1774 primary school1792 dame-schoola1817 pettya1827 ma'am-school1838 elementary school1841 primary1851 prep school1862 minding-school1864 junior school1871 tother school1881 marm school1889 preparatory1904 terakoya1909 prep1924 prepper1956 1851 Common School Syst. of State of N.-Y. (N.Y. State Dept. Public Instruction) 321 All schools which have been organized under the act..shall be called common schools (‘ward schools’) or ward primaries. 1905 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 13 438 At the end of the reign of Louis Philippe three and a half million children of both sexes were registered in the public and private primaries. 1971 Weekend World (Johannesburg) 9 May 3/3 Twelve schools—six higher primaries and six post-primaries—took part in the competition. 1991 Times Educ. Suppl. 4 Jan. 11/4 The problem for primaries..is finding the range of skills to deliver the national curriculum and full spread of out-of-school activities. 2001 Church Times 7 Dec. 5/2 Two Anglican primaries were among the 20 most improved schools. b. A pupil at a primary school. rare. ΘΚΠ society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > primary or prep school pupil primarian1858 prep1863 preparatory1873 primary1908 preppy1928 1908 E. Robins Come & find Me 36 ‘Serves her right’ said Primarys, Academics and Collegiates all with one voice. 7. Chiefly U.S. Politics. An election or meeting at which delegates are nominated or candidates selected to run for election; esp. an intra-party election held to select candidates for a general election. Cf. A. 8. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > meeting or assembling for common purpose > [noun] > a meeting > types of morn-speechOE court1154 morrow-speech1183 conventicle1382 congregation1389 plenary session1483 journeyc1500 night school1529 assession1560 general meeting1565 family meeting1638 panegyris1647 desk1691 collegea1703 annual general meeting1725 mass meeting1733 panegyre1757 plenum1772 family council1797 coterie1805 Round Table1830 GA1844 indignation meeting1848 protest meeting1852 hui1858 primary1859 Quaker meeting1861 mothers' meeting1865 sit-down1868 town hall1912 jamboree1919 protest rally1921 con1940 face-to-face1960 morning prayers1961 struggle meeting1966 be-in1967 love-in1967 plenary1969 catch-up1972 rencontre1975 schmoozefest1976 society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > selection of candidates > U.S. primary election primary1859 1859 N.Y. Times 14 Sept. 4/4 This gave him the primaries, and the primaries gave him the coveted nomination. 1880 ‘E. Kirke’ Life J. A. Garfield 31 The clergy..and many of the leading business men..never attend the township caucus, the city primaries, or the county convention. 1900 B. C. Clark in Mod. Eloquence X. p. xvii Those of you who remember as I do the times that tried men's souls will not, I hope, forget their humble servant when the primaries shall be held. 1930 Economist 7 June 1267/1 They have nominated Mr. Franklin Fort, a ‘dry’ Congressman, as his opponent in the Republican ‘primaries’. 1976 Times 26 Feb. 15/2 Sitting Presidents need to do far more than escape disaster in the primaries, which are popularity contests among their own party's voters. 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer 16 May b6/5 Eleven of the candidates are ‘cross-filing’ in both Republican and Democratic primaries. 8. Physics and Astronomy. A primary ray or particle, esp. a primary cosmic ray (cf. sense A. 22). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > ionizing radiation > [noun] > cosmic rays primary1923 cosmic rays1925 1923 Physical Rev. 22 243 The emission is comprised in part of electrons whose speeds are not appreciably less than that of the primaries. 1932 Physical Rev. 41 545 The average number of secondaries per primary is about 100 in iron and 230 in lead. 1942 J. D. Stranathan ‘Particles’ of Mod. Physics xii. 488 Many of the primaries and many of the large number of secondaries formed high in the atmosphere are unable to penetrate the entire atmosphere. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia V. 203/1 The discovery in meteoritic crystals of particle tracks produced by primaries heavier than iron. 2005 Jrnl. Physics G 31 1418 (table) Relative dependence of estimators at 600 m on the zenith angle for proton and iron primaries at 10²⁰ eV. 9. Grammar. A word or group of words (typically a noun or noun phrase) of primary importance in a phrase or sentence. Originally in Otto Jespersen's terminology (cf. adjunct n. 3a(b), subjunct adj. and n.); now usually contrasted with secondary or attribute. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic unit or constituent > [noun] > word or phrase of specific rank or importance quaternary1899 adjunct1914 subjunct1914 adnex1924 primary1924 secondary1924 tertiary1924 focus1966 1914 O. Jespersen Mod. Eng. Gram. II. i. 2 In the combination extremely hot weather, weather may be called a primary word or a principal.] 1924 O. Jespersen Philos. Gram. vii. 97 We may, of course, have two or more coordinate adjuncts to the same primary: thus, in a nice young lady, the words a, nice, and young equally define lady. 1935 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 34 416 All that the primaries..have in common is their noun character; it would be simpler and clearer to call them nouns and noun-equivalents. 1957 S. Potter Mod. Ling. v. 115 In the phrase good men there are two ranks: men is the head-word or primary and good is the attribute or secondary. 1995 F. Plank in F. Plank Double Case i. 19 Apart from being syntactic primaries, these nouns could also serve as secondaries, as attributes to principal nouns. 10. Medicine. A primary neoplasm (cf. sense A. 10). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > growth or excrescence > [noun] > tumour > other tumours polypusa1398 polypa1400 ecchymoma?1541 cat's hair1552 pneumatocele1585 thrombus1676 morum1684 physocele1706 haematocele1724 myxosarcoma1802 moro1807 lipoma1830 tuberculomaa1836 melanoma1838 pancreatoid1842 enchondroma1847 pseudoplasm1847 myeloma1848 tyroma1848 haematoma1849 adenocele1850 pachydermatocele1854 myosarcoma1857 angioma1858 myxoma1860 gliosarcoma1869 lymphadenoma1873 lymphoma1873 myoma1875 odontoma1876 teratoid tumour1876 teratoma1879 fibro-lipoma1882 embryoma1886 haemangioma1890 tubulodermoidc1900 plasmoma1901 astrocytoma1903 adamantinoma1904 hamartoma1904 plasmocytoma1907 mesothelioma1909 plasmacytoma1909 neuroblastoma1910 neurocytoma1910 paraganglioma1914 carcinoid1925 oligodendroglioma1926 mastocytoma1927 phaeochromocytoma1929 ameloblastoma1931 Schwannoma1932 myoblastoma1934 neurilemmoma1943 primary1957 neurolemmoma1964 vipoma1973 prolactinoma1975 somatostatinoma1977 1957 Internat. Jrnl. Appl. Radiation & Isotopes 2 258/1 The sterilization of early micro-metastases at a distance from the primaries. 1984 J. R. Tighe & D. R. Davies Pathol. (ed. 4) x. 69 The original tumour is known as the primary. 2004 Clin. Oncol. 16 105/2 It [sc. signet ring cell carcinoma] has been described most commonly in the stomach, but also as a primary in the colon, pancreas, breast, bladder, prostate and rarely the lung. Compounds primary age n. Education the stage of life during which children receive primary education, typically (in the United Kingdom) between the ages of about five and eleven; frequently attributive. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > child > [adjective] smalla1325 impuberala1856 impubic1876 impuberate1880 primary age1893 primary1908 preadolescent1910 subadolescent1910 subteenage1939 rising fives1968 society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [adjective] > primary or prep school pupil preparatory1858 primary age1893 preppy1900 1893 Cent. Mag. Jan. 476/1 In the primary age the child has begun to feel the desire for learning the conventional instruments invented by the race for communicating and preserving human experience. 1929 in G. M. Whipple Preschool & Parental Educ. i. viii. 225 We ordinarily have three groups before our first primary-age level: a group of children from two to three approximately, three to four, and four to five. 1992 Times Educ. Suppl. 31 Jan. 86/2 (advt.) The postholder should have experience of teaching primary age pupils with learning, sensory and emotional difficulties. primary air n. see sense A. 25. primary amputation n. Surgery amputation performed immediately after an injury or as a first line of treatment; amputation performed before the onset of infection or gangrene; an instance of this (cf. secondary amputation at secondary adj. 5e). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > removal by surgical means > [noun] > by cutting away > amputation > types of primary amputation1828 secondary amputation1837 self-amputation1849 transfixion1872 transfixation1889 1828 Lancet 17 May 205/2 From untoward circumstances, primary amputation had been postponed beyond the usual time, so that the tissues had become tumefied from serous and lymphatic effusion. 1975 Ann. Surg. 181 182 Femoroperoneal bypass was performed in preference to primary amputation in each case. 2004 Jrnl. Reconstructive Microsurg. 20 511 Diabetic patients, presenting with both peripheral vascular disease and large soft-tissue defects, are too often treated by primary amputation. primary bow n. = primary rainbow n. ΚΠ 1672 I. Newton in Philos. Trans. 1671 (Royal Soc.) 6 3084 Such are the drops on the inside of the primary bow. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 444 In the true or primary bow, the rays of light arrive at the spectator's eye after two refractions and one reflection. 1995 Sky & Telescope May 67/2 (caption) Rachel Funcheon took this picture from the side of a Missouri high-way just after an intense downpour. Her image clearly shows the brighter region inside the primary bow and Alexander's dark band between the primary and secondary. primary caregiver n. chiefly North American the person who provides the majority of care or guardianship, esp. to a child or an infirm person. ΚΠ 1972 Family Coordinator 21 95 A mode of intervention..is described in which another widow is the primary caregiver... They offer the newly bereaved individual an opportunity to get some help in coping with their grief. 1991 Canada Lutheran Nov. 6/1 Home-based hospices are not available in Canada as far as I know. A primary caregiver in the home, usually a spouse or offspring, is a necessary factor in this model. 2006 N.Y. Times (Electronic ed.) 19 Feb. xiv. 11 The Legislature should require that child custody be awarded to the parent who was the primary caregiver during the marriage to ensure stability and continuity of care for children. primary caretaker n. chiefly North American = primary caregiver n. ΘΚΠ society > education > upbringing > [noun] > one who brings up nurshera1382 rearera1382 nurrya1387 nutrix?a1475 bringer up1529 nurturer1542 breedera1568 upbringerc1598 raiser-up1879 primary caretaker1914 motherer1974 1914 Manitoba Free Press 25 Dec. 1/5 The children's primary caretaker, the Children's Aid society, have arranged to look after 10,000 juveniles. 1969 Child Devel. 40 626 Learning theory would predict that the amount of early social reinforcement an infant receives from his primary caretakers should generalize to his..behavioral output toward other adults. 2005 Wall St. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 19 Oct. [She] is the primary caretaker for her mother, who has an illness. primary cell wall n. Botany the first cell wall to be formed in plant cell development. ΚΠ 1872 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 162 205 This tissue consists of simple prosenchyma, the walls exhibiting no traces of the pits or extensions of the protoplasm..to the primary cell-wall, seen in the true prosenchyma of Conifers. 1952 A. Frey-Wyssling in Struct. Aspects of Cell Physiol. 320 The development of cell walls, especially in the cells of higher plants, passes through two different stages. As long as there is growth in area, they remain thin and flexible. This fine membrane is called the primary cell wall. 2002 Plant Cell Physiol. 43 1421/2 The plant primary cell wall is a dynamic structure that exhibits considerable spatial and temporal variability in terms of composition and organization. primary constriction n. Genetics a cytologically defined chromosomal constriction associated with and determined by the centromeric region. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > centromere > parts associated with prochromosome1905 primary constriction1932 1932 C. D. Darlington Rec. Adv. in Cytol. 495 Primary or attachment constriction, that always associated with the spindle attachment. 1969 W. V. Brown & E. M. Bertke Textbk. Cytol. xviii. 344/1 This ‘constriction’ associated with the centromere is often loosely called the centromere, or kinetochore, but more exactly it is the primary constriction. 2003 Current Opinion in Genetics & Devel. 13 191/1 The centromere is the locus responsible for the segregation of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis... The kinetochore complex assembles at this site and in many organisms is visible as the primary constriction. primary dealer n. (a) Business a distributor or wholesaler purchasing directly from producers; (b) Finance a dealer authorized to deal directly with a country's central bank. ΚΠ 1914 Manitoba Free Press 25 July 22/4 One of these descriptions, that of primary dealer, is new. It is intended to include a class of buyer formerly not comprised within the terms of the act. 1949 N.Y. Times 2 Mar. 4 (advt.) As a primary dealer in U.S. Government bonds, notes, certificates and discount bills, Bankers Trust maintains a market in these securities. 2003 J. A. Crutchfield & A. Zellner Econ. Marine Resources & Conservation Policy xi. 105/2 The gap between market prices and fishing costs..could even attract large secondary wholesalers and chain retailers into bypassing existing primary dealers entirely. 2005 Euromoney (Electronic ed.) Dec. Bankers say that many of Europe's debt management offices are abusing their power over their primary dealers to keep costs of issuance down. primary education n. education which provides the rudiments of knowledge; early or elementary schooling; spec. (in the United Kingdom) the education of children between the ages of about five and eleven years. ΘΚΠ society > education > [noun] > systematic education > education at school > at primary school primary instruction1811 primary education1818 1818 Rep. Commissioners Univ. Virginia 4 Aug. 4 The objects of this primary education determine its character and limits. 1868 J. E. T. Rogers Man. Polit. Econ. xx. 260 The German emigrants.., most of whom are fairly possessed of primary education, are much more handy than those who come from states where equal care is not taken. 1933 C. L. Fry in O. A. Petty India–Burma 38 In the field of primary education the number of scholars in mission schools also increased much less rapidly than those in Government and non-mission schools. 1993 Times Educ. Suppl. 5 Mar. (Review Suppl.) 5/5 It is entirely unrealistic to see state primary education as if it were private preparatory schooling. primary endosperm nucleus n. Botany the triploid nucleus which results from the fusion of the two polar nuclei of the embryo sac with a sperm nucleus, and which (usually) divides to form the endosperm tissue. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > other parts disc1835 crystalloid1863 autoplast1884 plastid1885 granum1894 primary endosperm nucleus1897 chromoplast1902 phragmoplast1904 plasmodesma1905 phragmosome1940 1897 Bot. Gaz. 23 147 There is no primary endosperm nucleus formed by the fusion of polar nuclei, but an endosperm formed before fertilization. 1938 H. E. Hayward Struct. Econ. Plants 137 This [fertilization] is double in character, one microgamete uniting with the megagamete to form the zygote, the other with the polar nuclei to form the primary endosperm nucleus. 2004 Plant Sci. 167 575/1 Double fertilization results in the dipoid zygote, which develops into the embryo and the triploid primary endosperm nucleus, developing into the endosperm. primary evidence n. Law evidence, such as the original of a document, that by its nature does not suggest that better evidence is available; cf. secondary evidence n. at secondary adj. 1i. ΚΠ 1793 tr. in London Chron. 7 Sept. 243/3 The primary evidence, that is, the ship's papers, and the preparatory examinations, were sufficiently conclusive. 1886 H. G. Wood Pract. Evid. i. 3 That received is merely a copy and therefore without any of the essential elements of primary evidence. 1942 Columbia Law Rev. 42 1133 The attesting witnesses provide the primary evidence of valid execution. 2011 Afr. News (Nexis) 9 Mar. He also pointed out that it is primary evidence as it is an original. primary forest n. see sense A. 24b. primary group n. Sociology a small social group based on close personal contact and mutual concern, such as a family or team. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > [noun] > social group > basic primary group1909 1894 A. W. Small & G. E. Vincent Introd. Study of Society iii. ii. 183 (heading) The primary social group: the family.] 1909 C. H. Cooley Social Organization iii. 23 By primary groups I mean those characterized by intimate face-to-face association and coöperation. 1950 G. C. Homans Human Group i. 1 A number of persons who communicate with one another often over a span of time, and..few enough so that each person is able to communicate with all the others..face-to-face. Sociologists call this the primary group. 1991 M. Mackie Gender Relations Canada v. 103/2 Family and peer groups are the prototypical primary groups. There, people are valued and treated as total personalities. primary humour n. now historical each of the four cardinal humours (humour n. 1a) of the body. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [noun] > fluid secretion > humours > specific humours phlegmc1250 moisturea1387 melancholyc1390 cholera1393 black humoura1398 choleraa1398 melancholiaa1398 coldness1398 sanguineness1530 atrabile1594 combust choler1607 primary humour1621 black bile1634 cambium1634 yellow bile1634 kapha1937 pitta1937 dosha1959 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. ii. 21 To maintaine those foure first primary Humors. 1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 556 We cannot admit..that the hypothesis of four primary humours..was already established in the writings of Hippocrates. 1944 isis 35 19/2 The kind and degree of therapeutic interference were dependent on..the seven res naturales (elements, temperaments, primary humours, parts of the body, forces, functions, vital spirits). primary instruction n. now somewhat archaic early or elementary schooling; primary education. ΘΚΠ society > education > [noun] > systematic education > education at school > at primary school primary instruction1811 primary education1818 1811 Times 12 July 2/5 For the primary instruction of children, His Majesty perceives with pleasure the establishment of small schools upon Dr. Bell's and Mr. Lancaster's plans. 1861 M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 2 M. Magin, now Inspector-General of primary instruction, and formerly Rector of the Academy of Nancy. 1923 H. G. James & P. A. Martin Republics of Lat. Amer. (rev. ed.) iv. 155 In some of the states primary instruction is compulsory and extensive, while in others it is not compulsory and very limited. 1999 Scotsman (Nexis) 10 Mar. 11 My primary instruction of Scottish history was inadequate... Several of my peers learnt nothing but Scottish history during history lessons at primary school. primary legislation n. (a) originally British legislation introduced by the government, e.g. by Act of Parliament, which therefore forms the framework or prompt for subsequent legislation; (b) U.S. legislation relating to primary elections. ΚΠ 1867 Times 4 Sept. 5/5 It would be found..that all the lines were paying their working expenses, and would be paying all their interest charges, had the primary legislation for railways only allowed an irredeemable debenture issue. 1898 N.Y. Times 18 Jan. 4 Representatives of the reform movement..were in conference with Gov. Black this morning for over an hour on the question of primary legislation. 1958 A. Leiserson Parties & Politics vi. 245 These ideas are reflected in the laws of several states which have experimented with primary legislation during the past ten years. 2004 Daily Tel. 28 Jan. 5/6 If the Government wanted to raise the £3,000 figure before 2010 it would need to introduce a new Bill,..known as primary legislation. primary market n. originally U.S. (a) Business a market trading in commodities directly supplied by producers; (b) Finance the market in which newly issued securities are sold for the first time. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > other types of market market overt1555 money market1787 pitched1805 farmers' market1847 primary market1859 perfect market1889 energy market1920 society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > traffic in stocks and shares > types of market commodity market1843 primary market1859 short interest1866 bear market1873 aftermarket1887 terminal market1887 Kaffir Circus1889 shop1889 bull market1891 open1898 curb-market1900 the junglea1901 jungle-market1900 short market1900 down market1915 short end1964 third market1964 Unlisted Securities Market1979 USM1979 bulldog market1980 1859 La Crosse (Wisconsin) Independent Republican 30 Mar. 1/7 The grain trade, of which Chicago is the greates[t] primary market in the world. 1871 N.Y. Times 1 July 2/5 New-York is the place where the corporation is established, and is the primary market for the sale of the stock. 1959 Times 30 July 11/2 The turnover of the London gold market will not be favourable, even though it retains its undisputed position as the world's foremost primary market for gold bullion. 2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 266 Paid-in capital is generated when a firm issues stock in the primary market, not when the stock is traded in the secondary market. primary meristem n. Botany a region of plant tissue consisting of actively dividing, undifferentiated cells; esp. an apical meristem. ΚΠ 1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 117 This tissue is termed Primary Meristem [Ger. Urmeristem]..because it presents the primary condition of the tissue, out of which the different forms of the permanent tissue are successively formed. 1939 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 25 445 The primary meristem is essentially the functional embryo of the plant. It remains undifferentiated..and is the ultimate source of all organs of the plant. 2003 Trends Plant Sci. 8 542/2 The primary meristem of Arabidopsis can be considered to produce primordia that will give rise to a leaf and to an axiliary meristem. primary mirror n. Astronomy (in a reflecting telescope) the main mirror that collects and focuses incoming light; = object mirror n. at object n. Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1935 N.Y. Times 11 Aug. n2/3 The image of the sun will be caught by a large primary mirror... Through other mirrors it will be reflected into the spectroscope. 1964 Science 12 June 1304/3 Since the telescope was intended to photograph stars down to magnitude 18.0.., the aperture of the primary mirror had to be not less than 60 inches. 2003 Astronomy Aug. 98/2 The Newtonian design uses a primary mirror and a second, ‘diagonal’ mirror. primary oocyte n. Biology an oocyte that gives rise in the first division of meiosis to the secondary oocyte and a polar body; cf. secondary oocyte n. at secondary adj. 5d. ΚΠ 1897 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 24 104 I propose to use the term[s] ‘primary sporocyte’ for the cells of the sixteen-cell stage, and ‘secondary sporocyte’ for cells of the thirty-two-cell stage. These terms are directly analogous to ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ ‘oöcyte’, and ‘spermatocyte’ in animal cells. 1946 B. M. Patten Human Embryol. ii. 31 The primary oöcyte divides to form two secondary oöcytes. One of these receives little cytoplasm and is called the first polar body. 1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes ix. 120/1 Oogenesis, the development of eggs, occurs within the ovary and also progresses through various stages involving oogonia, primary and secondary oocytes, and finally ova or eggs. primary pit field n. Botany an area of reduced thickness in a primary cell wall, characteristically penetrated by numerous plasmodesmata. ΚΠ 1934 Jrnl. Arnold Arboretum 15 332 Cambial walls are characterized by having more or less numerous plasmodesmata which may be..aggregated in thinner areas of the walls, i.e. in so-called primary pit-fields. 1992 M. Ingrouille Diversity & Evol. Land Plants 26 In parenchyma cells, the cell wall is uniformly thin except in areas with dense plasmodesmata, the primary pit field, where it is even thinner. primary poverty n. (in social economics) the condition of lacking the means to provide even the basic necessities of life. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > extreme poverty or destitution nakedness1526 starkness1544 beggary1581 destitutiona1600 primary poverty1901 down-and-outness1907 Tobacco Road1937 1901 B. S. Rowntree Poverty p. viii Families whose total earnings are insufficient to obtain the minimum necessaries... Poverty falling under this head I have described as ‘primary’ poverty. 1964 M. Laski in S. Nowell-Smith Edwardian Eng. iv. 173 Primary poverty, that is to say,..conditions where the family income..is insufficient to maintain health and working efficiency. 2000 Independent 4 July (Tuesday Review section) 5/3 The US still has..more inequality and primary poverty. primary radar n. see sense A. 30. primary rainbow n. the rainbow produced when light is dispersed within each raindrop by refraction with a single internal reflection, having colours ranging from red on the outside to violet on the inside, and which is the inner and usually brighter rainbow when two are seen (secondary bow or rainbow at secondary adj. 3g). ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > rainbow > [noun] > primary primary rainbow1665 primary bow1672 1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 48 The order of the Colours..was quite contrary to the primary or innermost Rainbow. 1793 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 83 1 In this shower two primary rainbows appeared. 1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxxii. 265 The primary or inner rainbow, which is commonly seen alone, is part of a circle whose radius is 41°. 1992 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 338 397 New features of the primary rainbow have been revealed in recent experiments. primary road n. U.S. = main road n. (a) at main adj.² Compounds 2 (in quot. 1888 referring to a railroad company). ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > main or major road great road1614 high road1620 main road1741 highway1837 traffic artery1845 trunk road1848 main-way1862 arterial road1886 primary roada1903 route1912 arterial1920 major road1930 spine road1961 1888 Atlanta Constit. 25 July 7/1 The primary road will bill the car to any point desired, and as they nearly all come via Atlanta, when it arrives here it is turned over to the connecting line for the point to be reached.] a1903 F. L. Ohmsted Landscape into Cityscape (1967) 372 If..such minor roads..should..be made very indirect and circuitous,..the public in general, keeping to the primary roads, would suffer no inconvenience. 1920 New Era (Humeston, Iowa) 25 Feb. 7/2 The 38th General Assembly..enacted what is known as the primary law setting aside approximately 6,400 miles of the main traveled roads of the state as primary roads. 1956 R. Braddon Nancy Wake xviii. 215 They had frequently to cross primary roads. 2001 Gazette (Wellsborough, Pa.) 11 July 1/3 They also hope to regrade the primary road that leads into the ski area before winter. primary scholar n. Education a child who attends primary school. ΚΠ 1850 Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) 23 July The primary scholars classed by themselves, with a teacher devoted entirely to them, will spend the school hours thrice as cheerfully and profitably. 1930 J. L. Barton Story Near East Relief iii. 38 The college student of today was a primary scholar when this organization was created. 1999 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 12 Mar. 17 Education authorities across the region..have comprehensive drug awareness programmes not just for older children but for primary scholars as well. primary school n. [after French école primaire (1791)] Education a school where young children are taught, a first or elementary school; spec. (a) (in the United Kingdom) a school for children between the ages of about five and eleven; (b) North American an elementary school, esp. one covering the first three or four grades (sometimes including kindergarten). ΘΚΠ society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > primary school under-school1629 primer schoola1680 proseminary1774 primary school1792 dame-schoola1817 pettya1827 ma'am-school1838 elementary school1841 primary1851 prep school1862 minding-school1864 junior school1871 tother school1881 marm school1889 preparatory1904 terakoya1909 prep1924 prepper1956 1792Primary Schools [see sense A. 9]. 1842 Biblical Repertory Apr. 219 The thing is made to suit the latitude of every college, academy,..primary school, infant school, [etc.]..in the republic. 1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography Pref. 6 The boys and girls who pass through an ordinary primary school. 1902 Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator 22 Oct. 1/3 The speaker referred to the growing tendency in primary schools to minimize the importance of ‘number work’. 1958 K. Lovell Educ. Psychol. & Children xvi. 198 The primary school child like the pre-school child has his fears and anxieties. 1990 R. H. Bork Tempting of Amer. 48 The Society of Sisters operated primary schools that taught the subjects usually taught in the public schools and also provided systematic religious instruction. 2004 Daily Tel. 25 Aug. 18/3 When I was young, the ‘nit-nurse’ was a regular feature at primary school. primary spermatocyte n. Biology a diploid spermatocyte that gives rise in the first division of meiosis to two secondary spermatocytes. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > sperm > sperm cell spermatoon1852 spermatogonium1861 spermatocyte1886 spermatid1889 primary spermatocyte1896 spermogonium1913 1896 E. B. Wilson Cell iii. 122 The primary spermatocyte first divides to form two daughter-cells known as spermatocytes of the second order or sperm-mother-cells. Each of these divides again..to form two spermatids or sperm-cells. 1927 Jrnl. Exper. Zool. 49 463 The darkly colored pycnotic primary spermatocytes..are the most conspicuous cells in the germinal epithelium. 1999 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96 5626/2 In late meiotic prophase..the primary spermatocyte nuclei make final preparations for the first meiotic division. primary structure n. (a) Aeronautics the parts of an aircraft whose failure would seriously endanger safety; (b) Biochemistry the first level of complexity in the structure of a protein or nucleic acid molecule, consisting of the linear sequence of amino acid or nucleotide residues (cf. secondary adj. 3y). ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > essential structural parts primary structure1939 1939 Aircraft Engin. Feb. 66/1 The primary structure of the main plane is erected in a wall jig. 1939 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 127 20 These protein molecules have a primary and a secondary structure. The primary structure is the polypeptide chain which may perhaps be arranged in cyclol cages. 1952 K. U. Linderstrøm-Lang Proteins & Enzymes 58 The presence of intrahelix as well as interhelix bonds may justify a classification into secondary (intrahelix) and tertiary (interhelix) structures, as distinct from the primary structure of the simple β-chain. 1964 J. E. D. Williams Operation of Airliners ix. 133 To ensure that throughout the operational life of the aircraft the possibility of disastrous fatigue failure is remote, the primary structure must either have an extremely long probable life or be designed to fail safely. 2003 Nature 30 Oct. 977/2 The primary structure of osteocalcin (OC) is highly conserved among vertebrates. primary substance n. Philosophy (esp. in Aristotelian thought) a distinct individual entity, to which properties and attributes can be ascribed; = substance n. 2; cf. substance n. 4a. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substance or being being1340 substance1340 essencea1398 materialitya1529 stuff1587 subject1590 timber1612 primary substance1774 1774 H. Home Sketches Hist. of Man III. 155 Substances are either primary, to wit, individual substances, or secondary, to wit, the genera and species of substances. 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 223/1 The first category is subdivided into..primary substance, which is defined to be..the singular thing in which properties inhere, and to which predicates are attached, and..genera or species which can be predicated of primary substances. 1901 O. J. Thatcher Ideas that have influenced Civilization II. 348 It belongs also to substance that there is no contrary to them, since what can be contrary to the primary substance, as to a certain ‘man’, or to a certain ‘animal’, for there is nothing contrary either at least to ‘man’ or to ‘animal’? 2000 Proc. Aristotelian Soc. 100 308 Each individual entity, or primary substance, is conceived as a compound of matter and form. primary treatment n. (a) Medicine the first or main treatment administered to a patient; (b) the first stage in the treatment of waste water whereby solids and floating matter are removed by sedimentation. ΚΠ 1808 Med. Repository 2nd Hexade 6 175 The want of success in the primary treatment of the disorder, is no impeachment of professional skill and knowledge. 1919 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 13 July 26/2 It was thought that with only a primary treatment of the sewage the water for dilution would render the effluent from the plant sufficiently stable that it would not be objectionable. 1969 Sunday Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 18 May c6/3 Surgery and radiation are still the primary treatments for cancer but chemotherapy..is making contributions also. 1992 Operation Forestry Northwest June 37/2 Primary treatment consists of a clarifier and de-watering system for the removal of settleable solids. primary wave n. see sense A. 26. primary wing n. Entomology (now rare) either of the forewings of a four-winged insect. ΚΠ 1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. III. xxxv. 642 In Attacus Atlas the primary wings are falcated or hooked at their apex. 1926 Amer. Naturalist 60 449 Primary wings are most affected, although the secondaries are reduced somewhat in length and venation. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022). primaryv. Brit. /ˈprʌɪm(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈpraɪˌmɛri/, /ˈpraɪm(ə)ri/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: primary n. Etymology: < primary n.With sense 3 compare earlier use of various compounds of primary n. as verbs, e.g.:1904 T. Watson in C. V. Woodward Tom Watson (1938) 370 What can the negro do? He has been disfranchised in nearly every southern state..and in Georgia he has been ‘white primaried’.1908 Sandusky (Ohio) Star-Jrnl. 23 Jan. 8/3 The senator was out-primaried, if we may use that term. U.S. Politics. 1. intransitive. To hold a primary election. rare. ΚΠ 1916 Fort Wayne (Indiana) News 22 July 1/2 Texas Democrats today are primarying on everything from prohibition to dog warden. 2. intransitive. To run in a primary election. ΚΠ 1951 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 23 Sept. 15/1 Newspaper polls in New Hampshire have raised the question whether General MacArthur will primary there next March. 1978 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald Jrnl. 22 Mar. 25/5 Robert Byrne..announced he was considering primarying against Walsh for the Republican nomination. 1997 News-Times (Danbury, Connecticut) (Electronic ed.) 2 Nov. Winkler primaried to win the party's endorsement over a candidate favored by Hapanowich. 2002 W. Kennedy Roscoe 128 I got a whole lot of friends who won't go your way if I don't, and we're ready to primary if we're not on your ticket. 3. transitive. To oppose in a primary election. Frequently in passive. ΚΠ 1958 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 12 Mar. 8/5 Kelly and Werner indicated after the meeting they would primary Curry and Margolis for Town Committee posts on April 16. 1982 N.Y. Times 30 May (Westchester section) 8/6 I was selected by the Republicans for the Port Chester seat, but John primaried me and won—by about 95 votes. 1997 Campaigns & Elections Aug. 7/2 When Chicago Mayor Richie Daley and other Democratic powers announced they'd stick with her, it probably shut down the once distinct possibility of Moseley-Braun being primaried. 2002 Los Angeles Times 25 Nov. b5 You've got Republicans sitting there..scared to death they'll get ‘primaried’ by some anti-taxer. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.?a1425v.1916
随便看	to run with the ball to run with the hare and hold with the hound to run with the hare and hold with the hounds to run with the hare and hunt with the hound to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds to run with the herd to run, go, act counter to run, go, act counter to to rupture a gut to rush a person off her feet to rush a person off her legs to rush a person off his feet to rush a person off his legs to rush about to rush around to rush in where angels fear to tread to rush off to rush off her feet to rush off her legs to rush off his feet to rush off his legs to rush one's fences to rush round to rush the bucket to rush the can

primaryadj.n.

Compounds

primaryv.