primacy
Americannoun
plural
primacies-
the state of being first in order, rank, importance, etc.
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Also called primateship. English Ecclesiastics. the office, rank, or dignity of a primate.
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Roman Catholic Church. the jurisdiction of a bishop, as a patriarch, over other bishoprics, or the supreme jurisdiction of the pope as supreme bishop.
noun
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the state of being first in rank, grade, etc
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Christianity the office, rank, or jurisdiction of a primate or senior bishop or (in the Roman Catholic Church) the pope
Etymology
Origin of primacy
1350–1400; Middle English primacie < Medieval Latin prīmātia, alteration of Latin prīmātus ( prīm ( us ) prime + -ātus -ate 3 ); -y 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With this understanding of federal primacy in foreign affairs, the Supreme Court has pre-empted state laws even in the absence of any affirmative actions by the president or Congress.
Mr. Maher complains about this, saying that while the Constitution gives primacy of power to Congress, in its current form the State of the Union exalts the president while diminishing the legislative branch.
The primacy of youth was never truer than in the Romantic era.
For years, critics have argued that the dollar’s place of primacy would erode, to no avail.
From Barron's
“You could have a very serious snowball effect that could threaten Silicon Valley’s primacy.”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
