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

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

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 2, 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

Among the mellow pigments of the Roman canvas she was a glaring splotch of primary color.

From The Title Market by J. H. Gardner Soper