Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

primacy

/ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.88 in modern English

Syllables: pri-ma-cy
IPA: /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/

16

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The state or condition of being prime or first, as in time, place, rank, preference etc.

Uncountable

noun

Excellence; supremacy.

Archaic; Uncountable

noun

The office, rank, or character of a primate (chief ecclesiastical dignity in a church).

Uncountable

noun

The office or dignity of an archbishop.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"establish the primacy of something"
"acknowledge the primacy of something"
"assert primacy"
"The court affirmed the primacy of federal law."
"He argued for the primacy of reason over emotion."
"I am reading Nick Sousanis’ PhD dissertation-as-a-comic Unflattening. It debunks the primacy of word over image in Western culture and suggests that the two are equal partners in meaning-making."

Etymology

From Old French primacie, from Medieval Latin primatia (“office of a church primate”), from Latin primas plus a suffix corresponding to -acy. By surface analysis, prime + -acy.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: primatia, primas

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/
British English: /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/

Usage

Inflected Forms

primacies (plural)

Derived Forms

coprimacy primacist

Phrases

primacy effect

Synonyms

preeminence

Questions

How do you pronounce primacy?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/.
What does primacy mean?: The state or condition of being prime or first, as in time, place, rank, preference etc.
Where does primacy come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce primacy

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɹaɪ.mə.si/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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