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Classic vs Primary - What's the difference?

classic | primary |

As adjectives the difference between classic and primary

is that classic is of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art while primary is the first in a group or series.

As nouns the difference between classic and primary

is that classic is a perfect and/or early example of a particular style while primary is a primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party.

As a verb primary is

(us|intransitive) to take part in a primary election.

classic

English

Alternative forms

* classick (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art.
  • * 1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  • During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • * (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
  • Give, as thy last memorial to the age, / One classic drama, and reform the stage.
  • Exemplary of a particular style.
  • Exhibiting timeless quality.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-01-01, author=Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore
  • , volume=101, issue=1, page=47–48, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight , passage=Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus ) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.}}
  • Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds.
  • * (Felicia Hemans) (1804-1864)
  • Though throned midst Latium's classic plains.
  • (euphemistic) Traditional; original.
  • Synonyms

    * classical

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A perfect and/or early example of a particular style.
  • An artistic work of lasting worth
  • The author of such a work.
  • * Macaulay
  • Raised him to the rank of a legitimate English classic .
  • A major, long-standing sporting event
  • (dated) One learned in the literature of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome; a student of classical literature.
  • See also

    * classical * classics

    primary

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • The first in a group or series.
  • Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.
  • * Bishop Pearson
  • the church of Christ, in its primary institution
  • * John Locke
  • These I call original, or primary , qualities of body.
  • Main; principal; placed ahead of others.
  • Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.
  • (geology) Earliest formed; fundamental.
  • (chemistry) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
  • (label) idiopathic
  • Derived terms

    * primarily * primary care * primary color, primary colour * primary producer * primary research * primary school * primary source

    See also

    * first * primus inter pares * secondary (2) * tertiary (3) * quaternary (4)

    Noun

    (primaries)
  • A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party.
  • The first year of grade school.
  • A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.
  • The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system.
  • A primary school.
  • * 2001 , David Woods, Martyn Cribb, Effective LEAs and school improvement
  • Excellence in Cities offers a further development of this approach, whereby secondary schools operate with small clusters of primaries as mini-EAZs.
  • (ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.
  • A primary colour.
  • * 2003 , Julie A Jacko, Andrew Sears, The human-computer interaction handbook
  • By adding and subtracting the three primaries , cyan, yellow, and magenta are produced. These are called subtractive primaries.
  • (electronics) A directly driven inductive coil, as in a transformer or induction motor that is magnetically coupled to a secondary
  • Verb

  • (US) To take part in a primary election.
  • (US, politics) To challenge an incumbent sitting politician for their political party's endorsement to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election