primarily

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primarily

/ˈpɹaɪ.mə.ɹə.li/ UK, traditional
/pɹaɪˈmɛɹ.əli/ UK, common
/pɹaɪˈmɛɹ.əli/ Canada, US
/ˈpɹaɪ.mɛɹ.ə.li/ Canada, US
/ˈpɹɑe.mə.ɹɪ.li/ Australia

adverb

focus, not comparable Of a primary or central nature, first and foremost. The idea of fitting a crane to an engine for shunting duties, primarily in works yards, appears to have originated with the North London Railway engine in 1872.
Similar: by and large, chiefly, for the most part, above all

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: principally, chiefly, mainly, principal, primary, main, priority, first, crucially, generally, mostly, originally, importantly, firstly, preponderantly, predominately

Translations

Every language

adv of a primary or central nature

Español	primariamente
Français	principalement, essentiellement, surtout
Deutsch	hauptsächlich, in erster Linie
Italiano	principalmente, fondamentalmente, primariamente
Română	în primul rând, înainte de toate, în principal
Русский	гла́вным о́бразом glávnym óbrazom

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MLA

"primarily." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/primarily. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

primarily. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/primarily

Chicago

"primarily." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/primarily.

BibTeX

@misc{primarily_2026,
  title = {primarily},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/primarily},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}