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Definitions for Primitive

[1] being the first or earliest of the kind or in existence, especially in an early age of the world: primitive forms of life.
[2] early in the history of the world or of humankind.
[3] characteristic of early ages or of an early state of human development: primitive toolmaking.
[4] Anthropology . of or relating to a preliterate or tribal people having cultural or physical similarities with their early ancestors: no longer in technical use.
[5] unaffected or little affected by civilizing influences; uncivilized; savage: primitive passions.
[6] being in its earliest period; early: the primitive phase of the history of a town.
[7] old-fashioned: primitive ideas and habits.
[8] simple; unsophisticated: a primitive farm implement.
[9] crude; unrefined: primitive living conditions.
[10] Linguistics . of or relating to a form from which a word or other linguistic form is derived; not derivative; original or radical. of or relating to a protolanguage. of or relating to a linguistic prime.
[11] primary, as distinguished from secondary.
[12] Biology . rudimentary; primordial. noting species, varieties, etc., only slightly evolved from early antecedent types. of early formation and temporary, as a part that subsequently disappears.
[13] someone or something primitive.
[14] Fine Arts . an artist of a preliterate culture. a naive or unschooled artist. an artist belonging to the early stage in the development of a style. a work of art by a primitive artist.
[15] Mathematics . a geometric or algebraic form or expression from which another is derived. a function of which the derivative is a given function.
[16] Linguistics . the form from which a given word or other linguistic form has been derived, by either morphological or historical processes, as take in undertake.
[17] of or belonging to the first or beginning; original
[18] characteristic of an early state, esp in being crude or uncivilized a primitive dwelling
[19] anthropol denoting or relating to a preliterate and nonindustrial social system
[20] biology of, relating to, or resembling an early stage in the evolutionary development of a particular group of organisms primitive amphibians another word for primordial (def. 3)
[21] showing the characteristics of primitive painters; untrained, childlike, or naive
[22] geology pertaining to magmas that have experienced only small degrees of fractional crystallization or crystal contamination
[23] obsolete of, relating to, or denoting rocks formed in or before the Palaeozoic era
[24] obsolete denoting a word from which another word is derived, as for example hope, from which hopeless is derived
[25] Protestant theol of, relating to, or associated with a minority group that breaks away from a sect, denomination, or Church in order to return to what is regarded as the original simplicity of the Gospels
[26] a primitive person or thing
[27] an artist whose work does not conform to traditional, academic, or avant-garde standards of Western painting, such as a painter from an African or Oceanic civilization a painter of the pre-Renaissance era in European painting a painter of any era whose work appears childlike or untrained Also called (for senses 11a, 11c): naive
[28] a work by such an artist
[29] a word or concept from which another word or concept is derived
[30] maths a curve, function, or other form from which another is derived

Words related to Primitive

archaic, primordial, basic, pristine, primeval, undeveloped, simple, naive, rudimentary, underdeveloped, unsophisticated, essential, old, primary, fundamental, first, savage, natural, barbarian, raw

Words nearby Primitive

primeval, primigravida, primine, priming, primipara, primitive, primitive baptist, primitive cell, primitive church, primitive costal arch, primitive friends

Origin of Primitive

1350–1400; Middle English (noun and adj.) (< Middle French primitif ) < Latin prīmitīvus first of its kind. See prime, -itive

Other words from Primitive

prim·i·tive·ly , adverb
prim·i·tive·ness , prim·i·tiv·i·ty , noun
non·prim·i·tive , adjective, noun
non·prim·i·tive·ly , adverb
non·prim·i·tive·ness , noun
pre·prim·i·tive , adjective
pseu·do·prim·i·tive , adjective
sem·i·prim·i·tive , adjective
un·prim·i·tive , adjective
un·prim·i·tive·ly , adverb
un·prim·i·tive·ness , noun

Word origin for Primitive

C14: from Latin prīmitīvus earliest of its kind, primitive, from prīmus first

Synonyms for Primitive

archaic, basic, primeval, primordial, pristine, undeveloped, essential, first, fundamental, old, primary, earliest, early, elementary, primal, substratal, underivative, underived, underlying, unevolved