primeval
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See prime.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of primeval
First recorded in 1765–75; from Latin prīmaev(us) “young” ( prīm(us) prime + aev(um) age + -us adjective suffix) + -al 1
Explanation
Use primeval when you want to suggest something has existed from the beginning. The Big Bang? Dinosaur bones? Ancient trees? Yep — primeval. The adjective primeval is from the Latin root words primus, meaning "first," and aevum, meaning "age." You might have an irrational, primeval fear of monsters — meaning that your monster fear has been there for as long as you can remember.
Vocabulary lists containing primeval
The Call of the Wild
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"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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The Red Pyramid
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With a single, in-block cam, one timing chain and two valves per cylinder, Godzilla is so primitive it’s practically primeval.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
For example, how much primeval forest has been cleared for an agricultural product or how the land was previously used.
From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2024
One critic, João Ribeiro — a prominent folklorist himself — called it “voluntarily barbarous, primeval, an assortment of disconnected fragments put together by a commentator incapable of any coordination.”
From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2023
Perlin believes this has become the mantra of society ever since Gilgamesh and his men plundered the great primeval woodland.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2023
In Choctaw lore, for example, the Creator breathed life into not one but many primeval pairs of human beings scattered all over the earth.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
