English to English

primitive
('pr/i/m/I/t/I/v )

adjective (a)

  • Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church.(adjective)
    source: webster1913

noun (n)

  • a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization(noun.person)
    Synonym:
    primitive person
    source: wordnet30
  • a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived(noun.communication)
    source: wordnet30
  • a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms(noun.communication)
    Example:
    `pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived.
    source: wordnet30
  • An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; -- opposed to derivative.(noun)
    source: webster1913

adjective satellite (s)

  • belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness(adj.all)
    Example:
    Primitive movies of the 1890s.
    Primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains.
    Synonym:
    crude, rude
    source: wordnet30
  • little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type(adj.all)
    Example:
    Primitive mammals.
    The okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe.
    Synonym:
    archaic
    source: wordnet30
  • used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies(adj.all)
    Example:
    Primitive societies.
    source: wordnet30
  • of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style(adj.all)
    Example:
    Primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking.
    Synonym:
    naive
    source: wordnet30
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