Meanings
nounprimary school (countable and uncountable, plural primary schools)
plural primary schools
- AustraliaIndiaNew ZealandPhilippinesUKcountablesometimesuncountableeducationA formal, obligatory kind of school that typically begins with nursery school or first grade and ends at fifth or sixth grade.
My primary school is a good place to study.
1 more example
The child's mother was tearful as he boarded the bus for his first day of primary school.
Synonyms: elementary school, grade school
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA formal, obligatory kind of school that typically begins with nursery school or first grade and ends at fifth or sixth grade.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna school for young children; usually the first 6 or 8 grades
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans laerskool
- laerskoolfirst formal, obligatory school
Arabic مَدْرَسَة اَلاِبْتِدَائِيَّة
- مَدْرَسَة اَلاِبْتِدَائِيَّة (madrasa l-ibtidāʔiyya)first formal, obligatory school
Bulgarian начално училище, начално
- начално училище (načalno učilište)first formal, obligatory school
- начално (načalno)first formal, obligatory school
- основно училище (osnovno učilište)first formal, obligatory school
- основно (osnovno)first formal, obligatory school
Chinese Mandarin 小學 /小学
- 小學 /小学 (xiǎoxué)first formal, obligatory school
Czech základní škola (not one-to-one)
- základní škola (not one-to-one)first formal, obligatory school
Danish grundskole, underskole
- grundskolefirst formal, obligatory school
- underskolefirst formal, obligatory school
Dutch basisschool, lagere school
- basisschoolfirst formal, obligatory school
- lagere schoolfirst formal, obligatory school
Esperanto elementa lernejo, bazlernejo
- elementa lernejofirst formal, obligatory school
- bazlernejofirst formal, obligatory school
Finnish peruskoulu, ala-aste
- peruskoulufirst formal, obligatory school
- ala-astefirst formal, obligatory school
- alakoulufirst formal, obligatory school
French école primaire
- école primairefirst formal, obligatory school
German Grundschule, Volksschule
- Grundschulefirst formal, obligatory school
- Volksschulefirst formal, obligatory school
Greek δημοτικό σχολείο
- δημοτικό σχολείο (dimotikó scholeío)first formal, obligatory school
Hebrew בֵּית סֵפֶר יְסוֹדִי, בֵּית סֵפֶר עֲמָמִי
- בֵּית סֵפֶר יְסוֹדִי (bet séfer ysodí)first formal, obligatory school
- בֵּית סֵפֶר עֲמָמִי (bet séfer 'amamí)first formal, obligatory school
Hindi प्राथमिक विद्यालय, प्राइमरी स्कूल
- प्राथमिक विद्यालय (prāthmik vidyālay)first formal, obligatory school
- प्राइमरी स्कूल (prāimrī skūl)first formal, obligatory school
Hungarian általános iskola
- általános iskolafirst formal, obligatory school
Icelandic grunnskóli, barnaskóli
- grunnskólifirst formal, obligatory school
- barnaskólifirst formal, obligatory school
Indonesian sekolah dasar
- sekolah dasarfirst formal, obligatory school
Irish bunscoil
- bunscoilfirst formal, obligatory school
Italian scuola elementare
- scuola elementarefirst formal, obligatory school
Japanese 小学校
- 小学校 (shōgakkō)first formal, obligatory school
Korean 초등학교, 국민학교
- 초등학교 (chodeunghakgyo)first formal, obligatory school
- 국민학교 (gungminhakgyo)first formal, obligatory school
- 소학교 (sohakgyo)first formal, obligatory school
Latin ludus litterarius, educatio primaria
- ludus litterariusfirst formal, obligatory school
- educatio primariafirst formal, obligatory school
Latvian sākumskola, pamatskola
- sākumskolafirst formal, obligatory school
- pamatskolafirst formal, obligatory school
Lithuanian pradinė mokykla
- pradinė mokyklafirst formal, obligatory school
Malay sekolah rendah
- sekolah rendahfirst formal, obligatory school
Norwegian Bokmål barneskole
- barneskolefirst formal, obligatory school
Persian دبستان
- دبستان (dabestân)first formal, obligatory school
Polish szkoła podstawowa, podstawówka
- szkoła podstawowafirst formal, obligatory school
- podstawówkafirst formal, obligatory school
Portuguese primária
- primáriafirst formal, obligatory school
Romanian școală primară, școală elementară
- școală primarăfirst formal, obligatory school
- școală elementarăfirst formal, obligatory school
Russian семиле́тка, нача́льная шко́ла
- семиле́тка (semilétka)first formal, obligatory school
- нача́льная шко́ла (načálʹnaja škóla)first formal, obligatory school
Scottish Gaelic bun-sgoil
- bun-sgoilfirst formal, obligatory school
Slovak základná škola, prvý stupeň základnej školy
- základná školafirst formal, obligatory school
- prvý stupeň základnej školyfirst formal, obligatory school
Spanish primaria
- primariafirst formal, obligatory school
Swedish grundskola, lågstadie
- grundskolafirst formal, obligatory school
- lågstadiefirst formal, obligatory school
Tagalog mababang paaralan, paaralang elementarya
- mababang paaralanfirst formal, obligatory school
- paaralang elementaryafirst formal, obligatory school
Tamil தொடக்கப் பள்ளி, துவக்கப் பள்ளி
- தொடக்கப் பள்ளி (toṭakkap paḷḷi)first formal, obligatory school
- துவக்கப் பள்ளி (tuvakkap paḷḷi)first formal, obligatory school
Thai ประถมศึกษา
- ประถมศึกษา (bprà-tǒm-sʉ̀k-sǎa)first formal, obligatory school
Ukrainian початкова школа
- початкова школа (počatkova škola)first formal, obligatory school
Vietnamese trường tiểu học
- trường tiểu họcfirst formal, obligatory school
Welsh ysgol gynradd
- ysgol gynraddfirst formal, obligatory school
Yiddish פֿאָלקשול, פֿאָלקסשול
- פֿאָלקשול (folkshul)first formal, obligatory school
- פֿאָלקסשול (folksshul)first formal, obligatory school
Cite this entry
APA
primary school. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primary%20school
MLA
“primary school.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primary%20school. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “primary school,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primary%20school.
Source: primary school on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.