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primitive definition

primi·tive (prim′i tiv)

adjective

  1. of or existing in the beginning or the earliest times or ages; ancient; original
    1. characteristic or imitative of the earliest ages
    2. crude, simple, rough, uncivilized, etc.
  3. not derivative; primary; basic
  4. Anthrop. of or having to do with a preliterate, generally isolated, culture with a relatively low level of technology
  5. Biol.
    1. designating or of an organism, organ, etc. at the starting point of its evolutionary development or very little evolved from early ancestral types
    2. primordial (sense )

Etymology: ME primitif < MFr < L primitivus < primus, first: see prime

noun

  1. a primitive person or thing
    1. an artist or a work of art of an early, esp. preliterate, culture
    2. an artist or a work of art that shows ingenuousness and lack of formal training
  3. Algebra, Geom. a form from which another is derived
  4. Gram. the form from which a certain word or other form has been derived; root; base

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

medical primitive definition - medical

primitive Synonyms

primitive

modif.

  1. Simple

    rudimentary, embryonic, first; see fundamental 1.

  2. Ancient

    primeval, archaic, primordial; see old 3.

  3. Uncivilized

    crude, rough, simple, rude, atavistic, uncivilized, savage, uncultured, natural, barbaric, barbarous, barbarian, fierce, untamed, uncouth, Gothic, ignorant, undomesticated, wild, animal, brutish, raw, untaught, aboriginal, green, unlearned, untutored, underdeveloped; see also fierce 1, savage 1, 3.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

primitive Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • draw: Postscript is a Turing-complete reverse polish programming language with drawing primitives based on Bezier curves.

Adjective modifier

  • geometric: Abstract The extraction of geometric primitives from images is a fundamental task in computer vision.

Modifies a noun

  • Methodist: The Primitive Methodists reached out to the poorest people, who had been written off by the rest of society.

Modifying Another Word

  • rather: In particular they decide that the rather primitive standard fuel injection system was holding the car back.

Noun used with modifier

  • output: The output primitives are sent to the active workstation and stored in the segment.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: Some of the features seem primitive, while others seem advanced, so an eighth or ninth century date might be appropriate.
primitive usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

primitive quotes

The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the power of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which ourdull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive formsöthis knowledge, this feeling, isatthe centerof true religiousness.In thissense, and in this sense only, I belong to the rank of devoutly religious men.

-Einstein, Albert

Les temps primitifs sont lyriques, les temps antiques sont e¤  piques, les temps modernes sont dramatiques. The primitive era was lyrical, the classical era was epic and the modern era is dramatic.

-Hugo,Victor Marie

A poem is at once the most primitive and most sophisticateduse of language, but myemphasisis onthe former.

-Kunitz, StanleyJasspon

primitive quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"primitive." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/primitive>

APA Style

primitive. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/primitive

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