primitive

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Definitions (74)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (23)

  1. adjective Not derived from something else; primary or basic.
  2. adjective Of or relating to an earliest or original stage or state; primeval.
  3. adjective Being little evolved from an early ancestral type.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (42)

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Examples (50)

  • But stories of them have been supported by astonishing fabrications of details and of different accounts in agreement So, if a giant left impressions of his bare feet in the ground, that is not to say that he was a primitive--bulk of culture out taking the Kneipp cure. —  The Book of the Damned
  • If I had been a moderately good otter I suppose I should get back into human shape of some sort; probably something rather primitive--a little brown, unclothed Nubian boy, I should think I wish you would be serious," sighed Amanda; "you really ought to be if you're only going to live till Tuesday As a matter of fact Laura died on Monday So dreadfully upsetting," Amanda complained to her uncle-in-law, Sir Lulworth Quayne. —  Beasts and Super-Beasts
  • Often these forms remained quite primitive, and the idea that inspired them is still clear, as where Juvenal (VI, 521 f.) —  The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism
  • The times and the place where these two were bred were alike primitive, and this farewell journey had no shadow of impropriety in it even for the most censorious eyes. —  Cruel Barbara Allen From Coals Of Fire And Other Stories, Volume II. (of III.)
  • But to some creatures the primitive is a cipher, hard to learn; and blood is spent in the struggle. —  The Best Short Stories of 1920 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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modern ·  natural ·  rude ·  traditional ·  wild
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French primitif, primitive, from Latin prīmitīvus, from prīmitus, at first, from prīmus, first; see per1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French primitif = Spanish Portuguese Italian primitivo, from Latin primitivus, first or earliest of its kind, from primus, first: see prime.
 

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/ˈprɪmɪtɪv/
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