primary color

American  

noun

1. Art. a color, as red, yellow, or blue, that in mixture yields other colors.

2. Optics. any of a set of monochromatic colors, as red, green, and blue, that are added to match or specify the chromaticity of a stimulus or sample.

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primary color Scientific  

1. Any of a group of colors from which all other colors can be made by mixing.

2. See more at additive subtractive See Note at color

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Etymology

Origin of primary color

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

But it’s not just the overabundance of a divisive primary color that makes the image so unnerving.

From Salon • May 17, 2024

It’s a subtractive primary color, which means it never really gets its due.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 2, 2022

With the aid of food coloring, he completed the red and blue portions of a planned primary color triptych before museum officials caught on that something more than a stomach bug was afoot.

From Slate • Oct. 28, 2022

The primary color of the kit is black with the embroidered crest and sponsor name in sol rosa, a pink-tinted hue unique to Angel City.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 17, 2021

The adulteration may not be perceptible in one primary color, but it is manifest when that color is brought into action with another primary, for it is seldom that a pure secondary results.

From Color Value by Clifford, C. R. (Chandler Robbins)