primitive.
An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.
Meaning & usage
An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.
A member of a primitive society.
Primitive or primeval nature; the innate, instinctive element within a person; the deep, instinctive, precultural layer of human nature.
Natural or premodern environment or conditions; life lacking modern technology and society.
A simple-minded person.
A data type that is built into the programming language, as opposed to more complex structures.
Any of the simplest elements (instructions, statements, etc.) available in a programming language.
A basic geometric shape from which more complex shapes can be constructed.
A function whose derivative is a given function; an antiderivative.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English primitif, from Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from prīmus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.
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.
a primitive style of dress
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.
Crude, obsolete.
primitive ideas
Original; primary; radical; not derived.
a primitive verb
The primitive root in "children" is "child."
Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
Not derived from another of the same type
most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of
Where this word comes from
From Middle English primitif, from Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from prīmus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.