primary school

noun

1

: a school usually including the first three grades of elementary school but sometimes also including kindergarten

2

: elementary school

Examples of primary school in a Sentence

She goes to primary school.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Presbyterian Church, for example, did not just build universities, such as Austin College in Texas and Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, but also established 59 academies in 20 states and numerous primary schools. — Thomas Adam, The Conversation, 4 Aug. 2026

Many schools don’t devote nearly enough time to letting kids play, which is one of the key ways primary school-age children learn. — Kara Alaimo, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026

China closed more than 30,000 preschools and primary schools in 2025, new data showed, in the starkest sign yet of the country’s demographic crisis. — semafor.com, 20 July 2026

He was revisited by a vague feeling of physical ineptitude that’d haunted him since childhood; failing to throw the ball properly on sports day at primary school, his father watching. — Literary Hub, 15 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

translation of French école primaire

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for primary school

• ampoule
• bascule
• carpool
• cesspool
• ferrule
• footstool
• guayule
• lobule
• misrule
• preschool
• pustule
• whirlpool