primacy

[prahy-muh-see]

noun

plural

primacies 

1. the state of being first in order, rank, importance, etc.

2. Also called primateship. English Ecclesiastics.,  the office, rank, or dignity of a primate.

3. Roman Catholic Church.,  the jurisdiction of a bishop, as a patriarch, over other bishoprics, or the supreme jurisdiction of the pope as supreme bishop.

primacy

/ ˈpraɪməsɪ /

noun

1. the state of being first in rank, grade, etc

2. Christianity the office, rank, or jurisdiction of a primate or senior bishop or (in the Roman Catholic Church) the pope

Word History and Origins

Origin of primacy¹

1350–1400; Middle English primacie < Medieval Latin prīmātia, alteration of Latin prīmātus ( prīm ( us ) prime + -ātus -ate ³ ); -y ³

Example Sentences

Drawing on nearly 90,000 assessments, the largest data set of its kind, the results challenge the conventional wisdom about the primacy of family in our culture, with implications both personal and professional.

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West Yorkshire Police said it "is working in close partnership with the Home Office, which has assumed primacy for the investigation into the matters highlighted in recent BBC reporting".

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The emphasis on the primacy of national identity and the need to locate political legitimacy in accountable national governments, rather than in supranational institutions accountable to no one, is welcome.

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The 18th-century framers of the Constitution viewed Congress as the foundation of republican governance, deliberately placing it first in Article 1 to underscore its primacy.

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In addition to lending primacy to the Hanlons’ perspectives, “Welcome to Derry” also takes viewers inside the Indigenous community pushed to the town’s outskirts to explore their relationship to the diabolism known as It.

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Related Words

• domination