primary colour

British  

noun

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

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Example Sentences

Prince switched up his look in 1991, combining intricate laces and primary colour with his notorious 'typhoon' hairdo.

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2023

But blue, the third primary colour needed to be able to generate white light, was elusive.

From Economist • Oct. 9, 2014

It shouldn't work, but the slightly cell-shaded visuals and brash primary colour palette provide a sympathetic backdrop, while all the onscreen messages and HUD elements are in a grainy comic font.

From The Guardian • Aug. 22, 2011

The early examples, exceptionally beautiful with their delicate and complicated pavements of greys, slate blues and yellows, are short-changed if seen as just a prelude to primary colour purism, for they are exceptionally beautiful.

From Slate • Dec. 18, 2010

Red is a primary colour, it's true, But so is Blue; And we all of us think, dear Brother, That one is quite as good as the other.

From Verses for Children and Songs for Music by Ewing, Juliana Horatia Gatty