primitive
Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early timesOf or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» You think that your language is more primitive.
nonong · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
1 languagesExamples
31 sentencesMeaning
8 sensesOf or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.
a primitive style of dress
Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.
primitive innocence; the primitive church
Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.
Relating to an art style characterized by asymmetrical shapes and faded colors.
I used primitive hearts to decorate the quilt.
More meanings 5
Crude, obsolete.
primitive ideas
Original; primary; radical; not derived.
a primitive verb
The primitive root in "children" is "child."
Not derived from another of the same type
(dated)Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
(dated)Most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of
Origin
From Middle English primitif, from Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus (“first or eFrom Middle English primitif, from Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from prīmus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
more primitive, most primitive| Comparative | more primitive Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | most primitive Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
73 synonymsAntonyms
2 antonymsWord family
28 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.