preprimitive

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 pertaining 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.

10.

Linguistics.

of or pertaining to a form from which a word or other linguistic form is derived; not derivative; original or radical.

of or pertaining to a protolanguage.

of or pertaining 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.

noun

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.

00:10

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

Related forms

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

primitive (ˈprɪmɪtɪv)

—*adj*
1.	of or belonging to the first or beginning; original
2.	characteristic of an early state, esp in being crude or uncivilized: a primitive dwelling
3.	anthropol denoting or relating to a preliterate and nonindustrial social system
4.	biology
	a. of, relating to, or resembling an early stage in the evolutionary development of a particular group of organisms: primitive amphibians
	b. another word for primordial
5.	showing the characteristics of primitive painters; untrained, childlike, or naive
6.	geology pertaining to magmas that have experienced only small degrees of fractional crystallization or crystal contamination
7.	obsolete of, relating to, or denoting rocks formed in or before the Palaeozoic era
8.	obsolete denoting a word from which another word is derived, as for example hope, from which hopeless is derived
9.	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

—n
10.	a primitive person or thing
11.	a. 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
	b. a painter of the pre-Renaissance era in European painting
	c. Also called (for senses 11a, 11c): naive a painter of any era whose work appears childlike or untrained
12.	a work by such an artist
13.	a word or concept from which another word or concept is derived
14.	maths a curve, function, or other form from which another is derived

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

'primitively

—*adv*

'primitiveness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

primitive

c.1400, "of a thing from which something is derived, not secondary" (a sense now associated with primary), from O.Fr. primitif (fem. primitive), from L. primitivus "first or earliest of its kind," from primitus "at first," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Meaning "of or belonging to the first

age" is from c.1526. In Christian sense of "adhering to the qualities of the early Church" it is recorded from 1685. Of untrained artists from 1942.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

primitive prim·i·tive (prĭm'ĭ-tĭv)
adj.

Primary; basic.
Of or being an earliest or original stage.
Being little evolved from an early ancestral type.

prim'i·tive·ness or prim'i·tiv'i·ty n.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

primitive

(prĭm'ĭ-tĭv) Pronunciation Key

Relating to an early or original stage.
Having evolved very little from an early type. Lampreys and sturgeon are primitive fishes.

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