Primarily

How to spell primarily

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce primarily

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does primarily mean?

1. adverbFor the most part; mainly or chiefly.

Primarily in a sentence

• The budget is primarily spent on staff salaries.

• The role primarily involves managing client accounts.

Where does primarily come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin primarius, meaning 'of the first rank' or 'chief', which was built on primus, the ordinary Latin word for 'first'. From primarius English first formed the adjective 'primary', meaning the main or earliest thing, and then attached the native English adverb ending -ly to produce 'primarily', meaning 'first and foremost' or 'mainly'. The same primus root sits beneath a large family of everyday words, including 'prime', 'primitive', 'premier' and even 'prince', all carrying the underlying idea of being first. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: the -mar- syllable is so often swallowed in speech that writers either drop a letter or guess the vowel, yet the word is simply 'primary' with -ly bolted on. Keeping the parent word 'primary' in mind makes the awkward four-syllable spelling fall into place.

How the word is built

• prim- (from Latin primus: first)
• -ar(y) (adjective forming)
• -ly (adverb forming)