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Definitions for: Primitive
[n] a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms; "`pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived"
[n] a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived
[n] a person who belongs to early stage of civilization
[adj] (anthropology; of societies) preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial; "primitive societies"
[adj] little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type; "archaic forms of life"; "primitive mammals"; "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe"
[adj] belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness; "the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man"; "primitive movies of the 1890s"; "primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains"
[adj] (fine arts) of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style; "primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking"
Webster (1913) Definition: Prim"i*tive, a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the
first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.]
1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early
times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as,
primitive innocence; the primitive church. ``Our primitive
great sire.'' --Milton.
2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned;
characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of
dress.
3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive
verb in grammar.
Primitive axes of co["o]rdinate (Geom.), that system of
axes to which the points of a magnitude are first
referred, with reference to a second set or system, to
which they are afterward referred.
Primitive chord (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of
which is of the same literal denomination as the
fundamental base of the harmony; -- opposed to derivative.
--Moore (Encyc. of Music).
Primitive circle (Spherical Projection), the circle cut
from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane.
Primitive colors (Paint.), primary colors. See under
Color.
Primitive Fathers (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian
writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D.
325. --Shipley.
Primitive groove (Anat.), a depression or groove in the
epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with
the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of
it.
Primitive plane (Spherical Projection), the plane upon
which the projections are made, generally coinciding with
some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a
meridian.
Primitive rocks (Geol.), primary rocks. See under
Primary.
Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.
Primitive streak or trace (Anat.), an opaque and
thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the
vertebrate blastoderm.
Syn: First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval;
antiquated; old-fashioned.
Prim"i*tive, n.
An original or primary word; a word not derived from another;
-- opposed to derivative.
Synonyms: archaic, crude, early, noncivilised, noncivilized, primitive person, rude, untrained
See Also: aborigine, ape-man, Aryan, barbarian, Basket Maker, cave dweller, cave man, caveman, expression, feral man, formula, Heidelberg man, homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, human, individual, Indo-European, missing link, mortal, Mound Builder, person, Piltdown hoax, Piltdown man, savage, somebody, someone, soul, troglodyte, wild man, word
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