Why are igneous rocks called primary rocks?

I remember learning this in school — igneous rocks like granite and basalt are the very first rocks to form on Earth’s crust, hence the name primary. Sedimentary and metamorphic are secondary processes.

Igneous rocks are called primary rocks because they form directly from the cooling and solidification of molten magma. All other rock types (sedimentary and metamorphic) originate from them, either through weathering, deposition, or transformation. That’s why they’re considered the “parent rocks” of the rock cycle.