Primary vs. Principal — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 28, 2023
Primary refers to the first or highest rank, while principal denotes the most important or main.
Difference Between Primary and Principal
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Primary often denotes something that is first in order or sequence. This could be in terms of time, importance, or rank. For instance, when one refers to a primary goal, it's the first and foremost goal they wish to achieve. Principal, on the other hand, usually pertains to the main or most important. In finance, for example, the principal of a loan is the main amount borrowed, excluding interest.
In a school context, primary might relate to the initial stages of education, like primary school. However, principal in the same context refers to the head or leader of a school. Even in these differing applications, the essence of the words remains. Primary is about the starting phase, while principal is about leadership or prominence.
Both primary and principal can be used as adjectives. For example, "The primary concern" or "The principal reason." However, while primary generally stays within its adjective form, principal can also be a noun, especially in contexts like school administration or finance.
In terms of priority, primary typically means the first step or initial consideration. It's the starting point. Principal, when used to denote priority, means the highest in importance. It's the chief or leading consideration. One could have several primary tasks to complete in a process, but a principal objective that overrides them all.
Comparison Chart
Definition
First in order or rank
Most important or main
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Common Usage
Denotes beginning or initial stage
Denotes chief or foremost importance
Contexts
Education, sequence, importance
Finance, leadership, importance
Grammatical Form
Mainly an adjective
Both adjective and noun
Examples
Primary school, primary objective
School principal, principal amount
Compare with Definitions
Primary
First in time or order.
The primary stages of development are crucial.
Principal
First in order of importance; main.
The principal reason for the decline is economic.
Primary
Not derived from something else; basic.
The primary reason for the trip was business.
Principal
The amount of money originally invested or loaned.
The principal on the loan needs to be paid back first, then the interest.
Primary
Relating to primary school.
Primary education lays the foundation for future learning.
Principal
Denoting an original and main actor or participant.
She was the principal dancer in the ballet.
Primary
Of chief importance; principal.
Safety is the primary concern.
Principal
Of, denoting, or relating to a prince or sovereign.
The principal palace of the kingdom.
Primary
Directly received or directly responsive.
The primary benefits of the policy are evident.
Principal
First in order of importance; main
The country's principal cities
Primary
Of chief importance; principal
The government's primary aim is to see significant reductions in unemployment
Principal
Denoting an original sum invested or lent
The principal amount of your investment
Primary
Earliest in time or order
The primary stage of their political education
Principal
The most important or senior person in an organization or group
A design consultancy whose principal is based in San Francisco
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
Principal
A sum of money lent or invested, on which interest is paid
The winners are paid from the interest without even touching the principal
Primary
Relating to or denoting education for children between the ages of about five and eleven
A primary teacher
Principal
A person for whom another acts as an agent or representative
Stockbrokers in Tokyo act as agents rather than as principals
Primary
Former term for Palaeozoic
Principal
The person directly responsible for a crime.
Primary
Relating to or denoting the input side of a transformer or other inductive device.
Principal
A main rafter supporting purlins.
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
Principal
An organ stop sounding a main register of open flue pipes typically an octave above the diapason
All the principals are on one manual
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
Principal
First or highest in rank or importance.
Primary
A primary colour.
Principal
Of, relating to, or being financial principal, or a principal in a financial transaction.
Primary
The Palaeozoic era.
Principal
One who holds a position of presiding rank, especially the head of an elementary school, middle school, or high school.
Primary
First or highest in rank or importance; principal.
Principal
A main participant in a situation, especially a financial transaction.
Primary
Occurring first in time or sequence; earliest
The primary stages of the project.
Principal
A person having a leading or starring role in a performance, such as the first player in a section of an orchestra.
Primary
Of or relating to primary schools.
Principal
An amount of capital originally borrowed or invested, as opposed to the interest paid or accruing on it.
Primary
Not derived from anything else; basic or original
The interviews and other primary materials in the study are more interesting than the analysis.
Principal
The most significant part of an estate, as opposed to minor or incidental components.
Primary
Immediate; direct
A primary source of information.
Principal
The person on behalf of whom an agent acts.
Primary
(Geology) Characteristic of or existing in a rock at the time of its formation.
Principal
The person having prime responsibility for an obligation as distinguished from one who acts as surety or as an endorser.
Primary
Of or relating to a primary color or colors.
Principal
The main actor in the perpetration of a crime.
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.
Principal
(Architecture) Either of a pair of inclined timbers forming the sides of a triangular truss for a pitched roof.
Primary
Referring to present or future time. Used as a collective designation for various present and future verb tenses in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
Principal
Primary; most important; first level in importance.
Smith is the principal architect of this design.
The principal cause of the failure was poor planning.
Primary
Of or relating to primary stress.
Principal
Of or relating to a prince; princely.
Primary
(Electronics) Of, relating to, or constituting an inducting current, circuit, or coil.
Principal
(mathematics) Chosen or assumed among a branch of possible values of a multi-valued function so that the function is single-valued.
Two is the principal square root of 4. Both −2 and +2 are square roots of 4.
Primary
Of, relating to, or designating the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing.
Principal
The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.
A portion of your mortgage payment goes to reduce the principal, and the rest covers interest.
Primary
Of or relating to agriculture, forestry, the industries that extract natural materials from the earth, or the products so obtained
A primary commodity.
Principal
The chief administrator of a school.
Primary
Relating to, or having a carbon atom that is attached to only one other carbon atom in a molecule.
Principal
The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.
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.
Principal
(legal) A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on their behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.
When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the client′s agent, to act on the client′s behalf.
My principal sells metal shims.
Primary
(Botany) Of, relating to, or derived from a primary meristem.
Principal
(legal) The primary participant in a crime.
Primary
One that is first in time, order, or sequence.
Principal
(North America) A partner or owner of a business.
Primary
One that is first or best in degree, quality, or importance.
Principal
(music) A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.
Primary
One that is fundamental, basic, or elemental.
Principal
The construction that gives shape and strength to a roof, generally a truss of timber or iron; or, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.
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.
Principal
The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing.
Primary
A preliminary election in which the registered voters of a political party nominate candidates for office.
Principal
One of the turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and centre of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned
Primary
A primary color.
Principal
(obsolete) An essential point or rule; a principle.
Primary
A primary flight feather.
Principal
A dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company.
Primary
(Electronics) An inducting current, circuit, or coil.
Principal
(computing) A security principal.
Primary
A celestial body, especially a star, relative to other bodies in orbit around it.
Principal
Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case.
Wisdom is the principal thing.
Primary
The brighter of two stars that make up a binary star.
Principal
Of or pertaining to a prince; princely.
Primary
First or earliest in a group or series.
Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.
Principal
A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; - distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.
Primary
Main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.
Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.
Principal
The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, - as distinguished from an accessory.
Primary
(geology) Earliest formed; fundamental.
Principal
A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous.
Primary
(chemistry) Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.
Principal
The original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
Primary
(medicine) Relating to the place where a disorder or disease started to occur.
Principal
The educator who has executive authority for a school;
She sent unruly pupils to see the principal
Primary
(medicine) Relating to day-to-day care provided by health professionals such as nurses, general practitioners, dentists etc.
Principal
An actor who plays a principal role
Primary
A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party.
Principal
Capital as contrasted with the income derived from it
Primary
The first year of grade school.
Principal
The major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account
Primary
A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.
Principal
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
The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system, such as a planet in relation to its satellites.
Principal
A person who has a leading position, especially in an educational institution.
Mr. Smith is the new principal of the high school.
Primary
A primary school.
Primary
(ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.
Primary
A primary colour.
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.
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.
Primary
(medicine) Primary site of disease; original location or source of the disease.
Unknown primary
Most common primaries
Primary
(electronics) A directly driven inductive coil, as in a transformer or induction motor that is magnetically coupled to a secondary
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
Common Curiosities
What does primary mean?
Primary denotes something that is first in order, sequence, or importance.
Can primary and principal be used interchangeably?
Not always. They have distinct meanings, and context determines their proper use.
Is principal the same as primary?
No, principal usually denotes the main or most important, while primary refers to the first or initial.
Is primary exclusively an adjective?
Primary is primarily an adjective but can be a noun in certain contexts, such as "a primary of a political party."
Is principal a leader in a school?
Yes, principal refers to the head or leader of a school.
Can primary denote importance?
Yes, it can refer to something of chief importance or the main one.
Can principal be a noun?
Yes, as in "school principal" or "principal amount."
What does principal mean in finance?
In finance, principal refers to the original sum of money borrowed or invested, excluding interest.
How is principal used in relation to education?
Principal in education typically refers to the head or leader of an educational institution.
Is there a principal in every school?
Most schools have a principal as the leading authority, but titles might vary based on country and education system.
Can primary refer to the main reason?
Yes, it can denote the chief or leading reason, similar to principal.
Does primary relate to primary school?
Yes, primary can refer to the initial stages of formal education, known as primary school.
What's the primary use of principal in real estate?
In real estate finance, principal often refers to the main amount of a loan, excluding interest.
Are primary elections related to the word primary?
Yes, primary elections are initial rounds to nominate party candidates, aligning with the meaning of "first" or "initial."
Which comes first, primary or principal?
Primary denotes the first or initial, while principal denotes main or foremost. Context defines their order of precedence.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
