primitive meaning and definition

PRIMITIVE noun

Definition of primitive (noun)

1. a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization
   • synonyms: primitive person
2. a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived
3. a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms
   • "`pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived"

PRIMITIVE adjective

Definition of primitive (adjective)

1. belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
   • "the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man"; "primitive movies of the 1890s"; "primitive living conditions in the Appalachian mountains"
   • synonyms: crude, rude
2. little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type
   • "archaic forms of life"; "primitive mammals"; "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe"
   • synonyms: archaic
3. used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies
   • "primitive societies"
4. of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style
   • "primitive art such as that by Grandma Moses is often colorful and striking"
   • synonyms: naive