English → Latin
“primary” in Latin
prīmusfirst, early; chief, principal; most excellent, eminent; distinguished, noble; the first part of; the entrance, extremitprīncipālisfirst, original; chief, principalprī̆ncepsfirst, foremost; chief, distinguishedinitiumbeginning, start; a going in, entrance; rites, mysteries
The English word primary itself goes back to Latin prīmus, through prīmārius.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
primary
primus; principalis. The primary meaning of a word, naturalis et principalis verbi significatio [Vid: PRIMITIVE]: the primary impulses or instincts of our nature, principia, initia or prima naturae: principia naturalia (Vid: Cic., Off., 3, 12, 52; De Fin., 2, 12, extr. and 5, 7).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for primary?
- The usual Latin words for “primary” are prīmus, prīncipālis, prī̆nceps; also initium. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.