A primary alcohol is an alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 which has the hydroxyl

Hydroxyl

A hydroxyl is a chemical group containing an oxygen atom covalently bonded with a hydrogen atom. In inorganic chemistry, the hydroxyl group is known as the hydroxide ion, and scientists and reference works generally use these different terms though they refer to the same chemical structure in...

 radical connected to a primary carbon. It can also be defined as a molecule containing a “–CH₂OH” group.

Examples include ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

 and butanol

N-Butanol

n-Butanol or n-butyl alcohol or normal butanol is a primary alcohol with a 4-carbon structure and the molecular formula C4H9OH. Its isomers include isobutanol, 2-butanol, and tert-butanol...

.

Some sources include methanol

Methanol

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

 as a primary alcohol, including the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, but this interpretation is less common in modern texts.

See also

• Alcohol
  Alcohol
  In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
  
   (especially Nomenclature section for discussion on Secondary and Tertiary alcohols.)
• Oxidation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids
  Oxidation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids
  The oxidation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids is an important oxidation reaction in organic chemistry.When a primary alcohol is converted to a carboxylic acid, the terminal carbon atom increases its oxidation state by four...
  
  

The hydroxy group attached to the primary carbon in any primary alcohol is also attached to only one other carbon atom unless it is methanol which is a single carbon molecule bonded to a hydroxy group.