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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



97 words match “PRIMARY”

PRIMARY a. 9 definitions
velopment or in intention; primitive; fundamental; original. The church of Christ, in its primary institution. Bp. Pearson. These I call original, or primary, qualities of body. Locke.
DIRECT PRIMARY n.
A primary by which direct nominations of candidates for office are made.
ACHROMATIC a.
Free from color; transmitting light without decomposing it into its primary colors.
AFTERSENSATION n.
A sensation or sense impression following the removal of a stimulus producing a primary sensation, and reproducing the primary sensation in positive, negative, or complementary form. The aftersensation may be continuous with the primary sensation or follow it after an interval.
ALLEGORY n.
ollect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
AMPLIATIVE a.
; because we can think of bodies without thinking of attraction as one of their immediate primary attribute. Abp. W. Thomson.
ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION n.
An administration subordinate to, and in aid of, the primary or principal administration of an estate.
ANISOPLEURA n.
A primary division of gastropods, including those having spiral shells. The two sides of the body are unequally developed.
APASTRON n.
That point in the orbit of a double star where the smaller star is farthest from its primary.
APPEND v.
al thing; to annex; as, notes appended to this chapter. A further purpose appended to the primary one. I. Taylor.
ARCHICAL a.
Chief; primary; primordial. [Obs.] Cudworth.
AUTOTRANSFORMER n.
A transformer in which part of the primary winding is used as a secondary winding, or vice versa; -- called also a compensator or balancing coil.
AXIS n.
The primary of secondary central line of any design. Anticlinal axis (Geol.), a line or ridge from which the strata slope downward on the two opposite sides. -- Synclinal axis, a line from which the strata slope upward in opposite directions, so as to form a valley. -- Axis cylinder (Anat.), the neuraxis or essential…
BRONCHUS n.
One of the subdivisions of the trachea or windpipe; esp. one of the two primary divisions.
CALCULUS n.
of algebra. -- Integral calculus, a method which in the reverse of the differential, the primary object of which is to learn from the known ratio of the indefinitely small changes of two or more magnitudes, the relation of the magnitudes themselves, or, in other words, from having the differential of an algebraic expr…
CAPACITY n.
Capacity is now properly limited to these [the mere passive operations of the mind]; its primary signification, which is literally room for, as well as its employment, favars this; although it can not be dented that there are examples of its usage in an active sense. Sir W. Hamilton.
CASCADE SYSTEM n.
A system or method of connecting and operating two induction motors so that the primary circuit of one is connected to the secondary circuit of the other, the primary circuit of the latter being connected to the source of supply; also, a system of electric traction in which motors so connected are employed. The cascade…
CAUCUS n.
to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding measures of party policy; a political primary meeting. This day learned that the caucus club meets, at certain times, in the garret of Tom Dawes, the adjutant of the Boston regiment. John Adams's Diary [Feb. , 1763].
CHECK n.
which they may be checked. -- Check nut (Mech.), a secondary nut, screwing down upon the primary nut to secure it. Knight. -- Check valve (Mech.), a valve in the feed pipe of a boiler to prevent the return of the feed water. -- To take check, to take offense. [Obs.] Dryden.
COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY n.
d with the topographic and hydrographic survey of the coast and the execution of belts of primary triangulation and lines of precise leveling in the interior. It now belongs to the Department of Commerce and Labor.
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