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Primitively

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
prim·i·tive  (prm-tv)
adj.
1. Not derived from something else; primary or basic.
2.
a. Of or relating to an earliest or original stage or state; primeval.
b. Being little evolved from an early ancestral type.
3. Characterized by simplicity or crudity; unsophisticated: primitive weapons. See Synonyms at rude.
4. Anthropology Of or relating to a nonindustrial, often tribal culture, especially one that is characterized by a low level of economic complexity: primitive societies.
5. Linguistics
a. Serving as the basis for derived or inflected forms: Pick is the primitive word from which picket is derived.
b. Being a protolanguage: primitive Germanic.
6. Relating or belonging to forces of nature; elemental: primitive passions.
7.
a. Of or created by an artist without formal training; simple or naive in style.
b. Of or relating to the work of an artist from a nonindustrial, often tribal culture, especially a culture that is characterized by a low level of economic complexity.
8. Of or relating to late medieval or pre-Renaissance European painters or sculptors.
9. Biology Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
n.
1. Anthropology A person belonging to a nonindustrial, often tribal society, especially a society characterized by a low level of economic complexity.
2. An unsophisticated person.
3. One that is at a low or early stage of development.
4.
a. One belonging to an early stage in the development of an artistic trend, especially a painter of the pre-Renaissance period.
b. An artist having or affecting a simple, direct, unschooled style, as of painting.
c. A self-taught artist.
d. A work of art created by a primitive artist.
5. Linguistics
a. A word or word element from which another word is derived by morphological or historical processes or from which inflected forms are derived.
b. A basic and indivisible unit of linguistic analysis. Also called prime.
6. Mathematics An algebraic or geometric expression from which another expression is derived.
7. Computer Science A basic or fundamental unit of machine instruction or translation.

[Middle English, from Old French primitif, primitive, from Latin prmitvus, from prmitus, at first, from prmus, first; see per1 in Indo-European roots.]

primi·tive·ly adv.
primi·tive·ness, primi·tivi·ty n.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adv.1.primitively - with reference to the origin or beginning
2.primitively - in a primitive style or manner; "rather primitively operated foundries"


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Clayton's only response was a shrug of the shoulders, but as he left them he picked up the spear which had transfixed Snipes, and thus primitively armed, the son of the then Lord Greystoke strode into the dense jungle.
I often wondered how it had happened that I had ever survived the first ten years of my life within the inner world, when, naked and primitively armed, I had traversed great areas of her beast-ridden surface.
It was evident that they were putting as much ground between themselves and the coast as possible and doubtless were seeking some impenetrable fastness of the vast interior where they might inaugurate a reign of terror among the primitively armed inhabitants and by raiding, looting, and rape grow rich in goods and women at the expense of the district upon which they settled themselves.
 
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