primary colour

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noun

Also called: additive primary any of three spectral colours (usually red, green, and blue) that can be mixed to match any other colour, including white light but excluding black

Also called: subtractive primary any one of the spectral colours cyan, magenta, or yellow that can be subtracted from white light to match any other colour. An equal mixture of the three produces a black pigment

Also called: psychological primary any one of the colours red, yellow, green, or blue. All other colours look like a mixture of two or more of these colours and they play a unique role in the processing of colour by the visual system

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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Words nearby primary colour

primary care physician, primary cataract, primary cell, primary coccidioidomycosis, primary color, primary colour, primary complex, primary consumer, primary contact, primary dentin, primary dentition

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use primary colour in a sentence

Scruff believes that sex is not the primary concern of users.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He has picked pre-primary brawls with Christie, Perry, and Marco Rubio.
Rand Paul’s Passive-Aggressive Trolling Campaign|Olivia Nuzzi|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“You try to always scratch where the itch is,” Huckabee said about his campaigning and rhetoric in the 2008 primary.
Why This Liberal Hearts Huckabee|Sally Kohn|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Even then, most of us doubted he would show up and actually sign the papers allowing him to enter the 1992 New Hampshire primary.
President Cuomo Would’ve Been a Lion|Jonathan Alter|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

It was Dec. 20, 1991, the deadline for the New Hampshire primary.
Mario Cuomo, a Frustrating Hero to Democrats, Is Dead at 82|Eleanor Clift|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Besides this fundamental or primary vibration, the movement divides itself into segments, or sections, of the entire length.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
What the ear hears is the fundamental pitch only; the overtones harmonize with the primary or fundamental tone, and enrich it.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
The sleeves of his doublet which protruded from his leather casing were of the same colour and material as his trunks.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
His hair was darker—almost brown save at the temples, where age had faded it to an ashen colour.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
Later on, I believe, a child is wont to have his favourite colour, and to be ready to defend it against the preferences of others.
Children's Ways|James Sully