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Primate vs Primary - What's the difference?

primate | primary |

As nouns the difference between primate and primary

is that primate is (zoology) a mammal of the order primates , including simians and prosimians or primate can be (ecclesiastical) in the catholic church, a rare title conferred to or claimed by the sees of certain archbishops, or the highest-ranking bishop of a present or historical, usually political circumscription while primary is a primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party.

As an adjective primary is

the first in a group or series.

As a verb primary is

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

primate

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) primate.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (zoology) A mammal of the order Primates , including simians and prosimians.
  • ''Primates range from lemurs to gorillas
  • (informal) A simian anthropoid; an ape, human or monkey.
  • Hyponyms
    * See also * ape * aye-aye * capuchin * douroucouli * entrina * exarch * galago * gibbon * great ape * howler monkey * human, human being * indri * lemur * loris * marmoset * monkey * night monkey * owl monkey * patriarch * potto * saki * simian * spider monkey * squirrel monkey * tamarin * tarsier * titi * uakari * woolly monkey

    Etymology 2

    (English (m)). Compare (m), of similar derivation and meaning.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (ecclesiastical) In the Catholic Church, a rare title conferred to or claimed by the sees of certain archbishops, or the highest-ranking bishop of a present or historical, usually political circumscription.
  • (ecclesiastical) In the Anglican Church, an archbishop, or the highest-ranking bishop of an ecclesiastic province.
  • Derived terms

    * Primates * primateship * Primate of All England * Primate of England * Primate of the Gauls

    See also

    * (l) ----

    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