primary color

American  

noun

• primary colors
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• primary colors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of primary color

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

primary color

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

From Salon ● May 17, 2024

In this very orange Orange Bowl — both teams have it as their primary color — it was the Tennessee hue that was superior.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2022

When people think of the color red, says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, they picture a primary color that can be off-putting and overwhelming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 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

As a primary color, it is much more rarely seen in nature than either red or yellow.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 2, August, 1864 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various