principally; chiefly; mainly at first; originally
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
pri•ma•ri•ly /praɪˈmɛrəli/USA pronunciation
adv.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- essentially;
chiefly:Their income is primarily from farming.
pri•ma•ri•ly
(prī mâr′ə lē, -mer′-, prī′mer ə lē, -mər ə-),USA pronunciation adv.
- essentially;
mostly;
chiefly;
principally:They live primarily from farming. - in the first instance;
at first;
originally:Primarily a doctor, he later became a lawyer.
- primary + -ly 1610–20
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'primarily' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-bacter
- AIDS-related complex
- Aldridge
- Baluchi
- Barbera
- Bible school
- Brompton mixture
- Burschenschaft
- Chiricahua
- Cyrillic
- Flanders
- Israel
- Monophysite
- Pullman
- United Kingdom
- Urdu
- Utzon
- academic
- aeroballistics
- air force
- alfalfa weevil
- allopurinol
- amyloid
- and/or
- angstrom
- anorexia nervosa
- antianxiety drug
- applied
- art film
- art song
- artist
- aspect
- axiological ethics
- bacitracin
- bannock
- behind
- bensulide
- berylliosis
- beta blocker
- black belt
- bourgeoisie
- breeder
- building trades
- capital
- cellulase
- chamber of commerce
- chief
- chiefly
- chiropractic
- chylomicron