primitive

[ prim-i-tiv ]

/ ˈprɪm ɪ tɪv /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR primitive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

being the first or earliest of the kind or in existence, especially in an early age of the world: primitive forms of life.

early in the history of the world or of humankind.

characteristic of early ages or of an early state of human development: primitive toolmaking.

Anthropology. of or relating to a preliterate or tribal people having cultural or physical similarities with their early ancestors: no longer in technical use.

unaffected or little affected by civilizing influences; uncivilized; savage: primitive passions.

being in its earliest period; early: the primitive phase of the history of a town.

old-fashioned: primitive ideas and habits.

simple; unsophisticated: a primitive farm implement.

crude; unrefined: primitive living conditions.

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.

primary, as distinguished from secondary.

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.

noun

someone or something primitive.

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.

Mathematics.

a geometric or algebraic form or expression from which another is derived.
a function of which the derivative is a given function.

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.

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

SYNONYMS FOR primitive

1, 2 prehistoric, primal, primary, primordial, original, aboriginal, antediluvian, pristine. See prime.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR primitive ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM primitive

prim·i·tive·ly, adverbprim·i·tive·ness, prim·i·tiv·i·ty, nounnon·prim·i·tive, adjective, nounnon·prim·i·tive·ly, adverb

non·prim·i·tive·ness, nounpre·prim·i·tive, adjectivepseu·do·prim·i·tive, adjectivesem·i·prim·i·tive, adjectiveun·prim·i·tive, adjectiveun·prim·i·tive·ly, adverbun·prim·i·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for primitiveness

Curious jumble of modern and ancient city and village, primitiveness and the other thing.
What Made Twain Famous|Nathaniel Rich|April 20, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The strong, primitiveness of him was as alien to anything that was in Ruth as if the two had never seen each other before.
Joyce of the North Woods|Harriet T. Comstock
But as is invariably the case in Turkey, close inspection revealed the primitiveness and roughness.
The Red Rugs of Tarsus|Helen Davenport Gibbons
He accounts for its 'wildness' by its primitiveness; it was blasphemous because savage.
An Introduction to Mythology|Lewis Spence

"One judges the primitiveness of a race by its cultural and technological institutions," Harkaway said, with a lofty smile.
Once a Greech|Evelyn E. Smith
The separation of these two kinds of primitiveness is vitally important to our present discussion.
Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy|Bertrand Russell

British Dictionary definitions for primitiveness

primitive

/ (ˈprɪmɪtɪv) /

adjective

of or belonging to the first or beginning; original

characteristic of an early state, esp in being crude or uncivilizeda primitive dwelling

anthropol denoting or relating to a preliterate and nonindustrial social system

biology

of, relating to, or resembling an early stage in the evolutionary development of a particular group of organismsprimitive amphibians
another word for primordial (def. 3)

showing the characteristics of primitive painters; untrained, childlike, or naive

geology pertaining to magmas that have experienced only small degrees of fractional crystallization or crystal contamination

obsolete of, relating to, or denoting rocks formed in or before the Palaeozoic era

obsolete denoting a word from which another word is derived, as for example hope, from which hopeless is derived

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

noun

a primitive person or thing

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 untrainedAlso called (for senses 11a, 11c): naive

a work by such an artist

a word or concept from which another word or concept is derived

maths a curve, function, or other form from which another is derived

Derived forms of primitive

primitively, adverbprimitiveness, noun

Word Origin for primitive

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for primitiveness

primitive

[ prĭm′ĭ-tĭv ]

adj.

Primary; basic.

Of or being an earliest or original stage.

Being little evolved from an early ancestral type.

Science definitions for primitiveness

primitive

[ prĭm′ĭ-tĭv ]

Relating to an early or original stage.

Having evolved very little from an early type. Lampreys and sturgeon are primitive fishes.

primitive

adjective

noun

Content related to primitive

Words related to primitive

Words nearby primitive

Origin of primitive

SYNONYMS FOR primitive

OTHER WORDS FROM primitive

Examples from the Web for primitiveness

British Dictionary definitions for primitiveness

adjective

noun

Derived forms of primitive

Word Origin for primitive

Medicine definitions for primitiveness

adj.

Science definitions for primitiveness