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primitive - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'primitive' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Primitive [ a.]
- Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church.
- Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of dress.
- Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar.
2 . Primitive [ n.]
- An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; -- opposed to derivative.

Meaning of 'primitive' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . primitive [ n]
Meaning (1):
- a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms
Example in sentence:
  • `pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived
2 . primitive [ s]
Meaning (2):
- little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type
Example in sentence:
  • archaic forms of life;
  • primitive mammals;
  • the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe
Meaning (3):
- of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style
Example in sentence:
  • primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking
Meaning (4):
- belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
Example in sentence:
  • primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains;
  • primitive movies of the 1890s;
  • the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man
Meaning (5):
- used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies
Example in sentence:
  • primitive societies

Nearby Words:

prial prian priapean priapism priapulacea pricasour price priced priceite priceless

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