Main vs. Primary — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Main and Primary
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Compare with Definitions
Main
Most important; principal.
Primary
Of chief importance; principal
The government's primary aim is to see significant reductions in unemployment
Main
Exerted to the utmost; sheer
"They took her off the sled by main strength" (Jack London).
Primary
Earliest in time or order
The primary stage of their political education
Main
(Nautical) Connected to or located near the mainmast
A main skysail.
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Primary
Not derived from, caused by, or based on anything else; original
His expert handling of the primary and secondary literature is clear on every page
Main
(Obsolete) Of or relating to a continuous area or stretch, as of land or water.
Primary
Relating to or denoting education for children between the ages of about five and eleven
A primary teacher
Main
The chief or largest part
His ideas are, in the main, impractical.
Primary
Former term for Palaeozoic
Main
The principal pipe or conduit in a system for conveying water, gas, oil, or other utility.
Primary
Relating to or denoting the input side of a transformer or other inductive device.
Main
Physical strength
Fought with might and main.
Primary
(of an organic compound) having its functional group located on a carbon atom which is bonded to no more than one other carbon atom
A primary alcohol
Main
A mainland.
Primary
(in the US) a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principal, especially presidential, election
These two republicans should win their primaries easily
Main
The open ocean.
Primary
A primary colour.
Main
A mainsail.
Primary
The Palaeozoic era.
Main
A mainmast.
Primary
First or highest in rank or importance; principal.
Main
The main dish of a meal
"Unsurprisingly, the mains and their house-made condiments were the standouts of a recent meal" (Lindsey Tramuta).
Primary
Occurring first in time or sequence; earliest
The primary stages of the project.
Main
Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.
Primary
Of or relating to primary schools.
Main
Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.
Main timbers
Main branch of a river
Main body of an army
Primary
Not derived from anything else; basic or original
The interviews and other primary materials in the study are more interesting than the analysis.
Main
Full, sheer, undivided.
Primary
Immediate; direct
A primary source of information.
Main
(dialectal) Big; angry.
Primary
(Geology) Characteristic of or existing in a rock at the time of its formation.
Main
(nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.
Primary
Of or relating to a primary color or colors.
Main
(obsolete) Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.
Primary
Having a word root or other linguistic element as a basis that cannot be further analyzed or broken down. Used of the derivation of a word or word element.
Main
Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.
Primary
Referring to present or future time. Used as a collective designation for various present and future verb tenses in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
Main
To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game.
He mains the same character as me in that game.
What race do you main and what is your favourite race to beat?
For new players, I recommend maining the dagger and using the axe as a backup weapon.
Primary
Of or relating to primary stress.
Main
(obsolete) To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.
Primary
(Electronics) Of, relating to, or constituting an inducting current, circuit, or coil.
Main
That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.
Primary
Of, relating to, or designating the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing.
Main
(video gaming) The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character.
My WoW main has reached level cap and I’m on my way getting my first alt there as well.
Primary
Of or relating to agriculture, forestry, the industries that extract natural materials from the earth, or the products so obtained
A primary commodity.
Main
A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main.
Primary
Relating to, or having a carbon atom that is attached to only one other carbon atom in a molecule.
Main
(informal) dish]] of a meal
I had scampi and chips for my main and a slice of cheesecake for dessert.
Primary
Relating to the replacement of only one of several atoms or groups in a compound, such as an amine in which one valence of the functional group is taken by a carbon atom.
Main
The high seas.
Primary
(Botany) Of, relating to, or derived from a primary meristem.
Main
The mainland.
Primary
One that is first in time, order, or sequence.
Main
(nautical) mainsail
Primary
One that is first or best in degree, quality, or importance.
Main
Force, power, strength, violent effort.
Primary
One that is fundamental, basic, or elemental.
Main
A hand or match in a game of dice.
Primary
A meeting of the registered voters of a political party for the purpose of nominating candidates and for choosing delegates to their party convention.
Main
The largest throw in a match at dice; in the game of hazard, a number from one to nine called out by a person before the dice are thrown.
Primary
A preliminary election in which the registered voters of a political party nominate candidates for office.
Main
A stake played for at dice.
Primary
A primary color.
Main
A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.
Primary
A primary flight feather.
Main
A banker's shovel for coins.
Primary
(Electronics) An inducting current, circuit, or coil.
Main
A basket for gathering grapes.
Primary
A celestial body, especially a star, relative to other bodies in orbit around it.
Main
A hand or match at dice.
Primary
The brighter of two stars that make up a binary star.
Main
A stake played for at dice.
Primary
First or earliest in a group or series.
Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.
Main
The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard.
Primary
Main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.
Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.
Main
A match at cockfighting.
Primary
(geology) Earliest formed; fundamental.
Main
A main-hamper.
Primary
(chemistry) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
Main
Strength; force; might; violent effort.
There were in this battle of most might and main.
He 'gan advance,With huge force, and with importable main.
Primary
(medicine) Relating to the place where a disorder or disease started to occur.
Main
The chief or principal part; the main or most important thing.
Resolved to rest upon the title of Lancaster as the main, and to use the other two . . . but as supporters.
Primary
(medicine) Relating to day-to-day care provided by health professionals such as nurses, general practitioners, dentists etc.
Main
The great sea, as distinguished from an arm, bay, etc. ; the high sea; the ocean.
With might and main they chased the murderous fox.
Primary
A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party.
Main
Very or extremely strong.
That current with main fury ran.
Primary
The first year of grade school.
Main
Vast; huge.
Primary
A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.
Main
Unqualified; absolute; entire; sheer.
Primary
The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system, such as a planet in relation to its satellites.
Main
Principal; chief; first in size, rank, importance, etc.; as, the main reason to go; the main proponent.
Our main interest is to be happy as we can.
Primary
A primary school.
Main
Important; necessary.
That which thou arightBelievest so main to our success, I bring.
That Maine which by main force Warwick did win.
Primary
(ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.
Main
Very; extremely; as, main heavy.
Primary
A primary colour.
Main
Any very large body of (salt) water
Primary
(military) The first stage of a thermonuclear weapon, which sets off a fission explosion to help trigger a fusion reaction in the weapon's secondary stage.
Main
A principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage
Primary
(aviation) A radar return from an aircraft (or other object) produced solely by the reflection of the radar beam from the aircraft's skin, without additional information from the aircraft's transponder.
Main
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
Primary
(medicine) Primary site of disease; original location or source of the disease.
Unknown primary
Most common primaries
Main
Of a clause; able to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence;
The main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb
Primary
(electronics) A directly driven inductive coil, as in a transformer or induction motor that is magnetically coupled to a secondary
Main
Of force; of the greatest possible intensity;
By main strength
Primary
To challenge (an incumbent sitting politician) for their political party's nomination to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election, especially one that is more ideologically extreme.
Primary
To take part in a primary election.
Primary
First in order of time or development or in intention; primitive; fundamental; original.
The church of Christ, in its primary institution.
These I call original, or primary, qualities of body.
Primary
First in order, as being preparatory to something higher; as, primary assemblies; primary schools.
Primary
First in dignity or importance; chief; principal; as, primary planets; a matter of primary importance.
Primary
Earliest formed; fundamental.
Primary
Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
Primary
That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a chief matter.
Primary
A primary meeting; a caucus.
Primary
One of the large feathers on the distal joint of a bird's wing. See Plumage, and Illust. of Bird.
Primary
A primary planet; the brighter component of a double star. See under Planet.
Primary
A preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen
Primary
One of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
Primary
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
Primary
Of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondhand;
Primary goals
A primary effect
Primary sources
A primary interest
Primary
Not derived from or reducible to something else; basic;
A primary instinct
Primary
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
Primary
Of or being the essential or basic part;
An elementary need for love and nurturing
Primary
Of primary importance;
Basic truths
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