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| prim·i·tive [ prímmitiv ] |
adjective |
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| Definition: |
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1. first: relating to or occurring at the first stages or form of something
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2. biology developmentally early: relating to or appearing in an earlier stage of biological development, particularly of an embryo or species
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3. very simple in design: crudely simple in design or construction
(
offensive in some contexts
)
 built a primitive shelter from palm leaves
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4. with simple technological development: not using or relying on complex modern technologies to provide comfort and efficiency
(
sometimes considered offensive
)
 primitive camping facilities
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5. natural: arising from an inherent characteristic
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6. arts artistically untrained: created by an artist with no formal training, especially using a simple style
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7. arts early medieval: created by an early medieval European artist or a folk artist
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8. linguistics used for deriving other word: having a word form from which another word is derived
 The primitive root in "children" is "child."
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9. linguistics earlier in linguistic development: belonging to or constituting an earlier form of a language
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noun (plural prim·i·tives) |
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| Definition: |
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1. arts untrained artist: an artist without formal training, especially one using a simple style
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2. arts early medieval artist: an artist or folk artist, especially a painter, whose work was characteristic of the style of early medieval Europe
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3. arts work by early medieval artist: a painting or other work by an early medieval artist or a folk artist
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4. somebody from culture with simple technologies: a member of a people who do not use or rely on complex modern technologies
(
often considered offensive
)
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5. somebody or something from original stage: somebody or something from the first stage or form of something
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6. comput basic element of computer program: a simple element of a computer program or graphic design from which larger programs or images can be constructed
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| [14th century. Directly or via French< Latin primitivus< primitus "in the first place" < primus "first"] |
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 prim·i·tive·ly adverb |
 prim·i·tive·ness noun |
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