Phrase guide

primary colour

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of three colours which, when added to or subtracted from others in different amounts, can generate all other colours.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK

Examples

  • Red, blue and green are additive primary colours.
  • Magenta, yellow and cyan are subtractive primary colours.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of three colors from which all others can be obtained by mixing

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: primary color

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: color, colour, coloring, colouring

Narrower terms: primary color for pigments, primary colour for pigments, primary color for light, primary colour for light

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: color primari — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Chinese Mandarin: 原色 (yuánsè) — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Chinese Mandarin: 基色 (jīsè) — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Finnish: pääväri — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • French: couleur primaire — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Galician: cor primaria — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • German: Grundfarbe — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • German: Primärfarbe — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Greek: βασικό χρώμα (vasikó chróma) — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Gujarati: મૂળ રંગ (mūḷ raṅg) — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Japanese: 原色 (genshoku) — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Korean: 원색 (wonsaek) — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Māori: tae mātāmua — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Polish: barwa podstawowa — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Romanian: culoare primară — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Romanian: culoare fundamentală — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Spanish: color primario — any of three colours which can generate all other colours
  • Tagalog: pangunahing kulay — any of three colours which can generate all other colours