Dictionary

primacy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɹɪ.mə.si/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/ (US)
• /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/ (UK)

Etymology

From Old French primacie, from Medieval Latin primatia (“office of a church primate”), from Latin primas plus a suffix corresponding to -acy. By surface analysis, prime + -acy.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) The state or condition of being prime or first, as in time, place, rank, preference etc.
   • I am reading Nick Sousanis’ PhD dissertation-as-a-comic Unflattening. It debunks the primacy of word over image in Western culture and suggests that the two are equal partners in meaning-making. December 25 2016, Amruta Patil, “The book in my hand”, in The Hindu:
   • The court affirmed the primacy of federal law.
   • establish the primacy of something
   • He argued for the primacy of reason over emotion.
   • assert primacy
   • In clinical practice, the generation of diagnostic hypotheses occurs especially readily and rapidly in subdisciplines such as dermatology, where gross appearance of lesions is of particular importance diagnostically[…]. The primacy of macroscopy in paleopathology means that the activation of skeletal disease scripts occurs with similar facility and rapidity when skeletal remains are examined. 2023, Simon Mays, “The Macroscopic Study of Human Skeletal Paleopathology” (chapter 2), in The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology, Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 25–26:
   • acknowledge the primacy of something
2. (archaic, uncountable, usually) Excellence; supremacy.
3. (uncountable, usually) The office, rank, or character of a primate (chief ecclesiastical dignity in a church).
   • Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor in Eastern Orthodoxy, emphasized the many areas of agreement between Pope Francis and himself in response to the social concerns of the day. December 2 2016, Ecumenical Patriarch points to areas of agreement with Pope, Catholic World News:
4. (qualifier:Anglicanism, uncountable, usually) The office or dignity of an archbishop.

Forms

Deriveds

coprimacy · primacy effect · primacist

Synonyms

preeminence

Translations (41)

ka პრიმატი (the state or condition of being prime or first) · sh првѐнство (the state or condition of being prime or first) · he עֶליוֹנוּת (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ru пе́рвенство (the state or condition of being prime or first) · de Primas (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · ga príomhaíocht (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · nl primaatschap (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · ga príomhacht (the state or condition of being prime or first) · fr primauté (the state or condition of being prime or first) · sga prímdacht (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ca primacia (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ko 주요 (the state or condition of being prime or first) · sh пре̏дно̄ст (the state or condition of being prime or first) · pt primazia (the state or condition of being prime or first) · it primato (the state or condition of being prime or first) · bg архиепископски сан (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · sh prvènstvo (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ro primație (the state or condition of being prime or first) · de Primat (the state or condition of being prime or first) · hi वरीयता (the state or condition of being prime or first) · fi etusija (the state or condition of being prime or first) · pt primado (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ru перворо́дство (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ru перви́чность (the state or condition of being prime or first) · de Vorrang (the state or condition of being prime or first) · nl voorang (the state or condition of being prime or first) · sh prȅdnōst (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ru перворо́дность (the state or condition of being prime or first) · he רִאשׁוֹנִיוּת (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ru первосвяти́тельство (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · mi tuatahitanga (the state or condition of being prime or first) · bg първенство (the state or condition of being prime or first) · es primacía (the state or condition of being prime or first) · it supremazia (the state or condition of being prime or first) · fi ensisijaisuus (the state or condition of being prime or first) · ru прима́тство (the state or condition of being prime or first) · pt primado (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · xcl նախագահ (the office, rank, or character of a primate) · it priorità (the state or condition of being prime or first) · sk prvenstvo (the state or condition of being prime or first) · hi प्राथमिकता (the state or condition of being prime or first)