Primitiveness

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.

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

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primi·tive·ly adv.

primi·tive·ness, primi·tivi·ty n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

primitiveness - a wild or unrefined state crudeness, crudity, primitivism, rudeness natural state, state of nature, wild - a wild primitive state untouched by civilization; "he lived in the wild"; "they collected mushrooms in the wild"