primary

of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondhand

• “primary goals”
• “a primary effect”
• “primary sources”
• “a primary interest”

not derived from or reducible to something else; basic

• “a primary instinct”

most important element

• “the chief aim of living”
• “the main doors were of solid glass”
• “the principal rivers of America”
• “the principal example”
• “policemen were primary targets”

of or being the essential or basic part

• “an elementary need for love and nurturing”

of primary importance

• “basic truths”

a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen

one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird''s wing

coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit

• “current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil”