4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Primitive  \Prim"i*tive\,  a.  [L.  primitivus  fr  primus  the 
  first:  cf  F.  primitif.  See  {Prime},  a.] 
  1.  Of  or  pertaining  to  the  beginning  or  origin,  or  to  early 
  times;  original;  primordial;  primeval;  first  as 
  primitive  innocence;  the  primitive  church.  ``Our  primitive 
  great  sire.''  --Milton. 
 
  2.  Of  or  pertaining  to  a  former  time;  old-fashioned; 
  characterized  by  simplicity;  as  a  primitive  style  of 
  dress. 
 
  3.  Original;  primary;  radical;  not  derived;  as  primitive 
  verb  in  grammar. 
 
  {Primitive  axes  of  co["o]rdinate}  (Geom.),  that  system  of 
  axes  to  which  the  points  of  a  magnitude  are  first 
  referred,  with  reference  to  a  second  set  or  system,  to 
  which  they  are  afterward  referred. 
 
  {Primitive  chord}  (Mus.),  that  chord,  the  lowest  note  of 
  which  is  of  the  same  literal  denomination  as  the 
  fundamental  base  of  the  harmony;  --  opposed  to  derivative. 
  --Moore  (Encyc.  of  Music). 
 
  {Primitive  circle}  (Spherical  Projection),  the  circle  cut 
  from  the  sphere  to  be  projected,  by  the  primitive  plane. 
 
 
  {Primitive  colors}  (Paint.),  primary  colors.  See  under 
  {Color}. 
 
  {Primitive  Fathers}  (Eccl.),  the  acknowledged  Christian 
  writers  who  flourished  before  the  Council  of  Nice,  A.  D. 
  325.  --Shipley. 
 
  {Primitive  groove}  (Anat.),  a  depression  or  groove  in  the 
  epiblast  of  the  primitive  streak.  It  is  not  connected  with 
  the  medullary  groove,  which  appears  later  and  in  front  of 
  it 
 
  {Primitive  plane}  (Spherical  Projection),  the  plane  upon 
  which  the  projections  are  made  generally  coinciding  with 
  some  principal  circle  of  the  sphere,  as  the  equator  or  a 
  meridian. 
 
  {Primitive  rocks}  (Geol.),  primary  rocks.  See  under 
  {Primary}. 
 
  {Primitive  sheath}.  (Anat.)  See  {Neurilemma}. 
 
  {Primitive  streak}  or  {trace}  (Anat.),  an  opaque  and 
  thickened  band  where  the  mesoblast  first  appears  in  the 
  vertebrate  blastoderm. 
 
  Syn:  First  original;  radical;  pristine;  ancient;  primeval; 
  antiquated;  old-fashioned. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Primitive  \Prim"i*tive\,  n. 
  An  original  or  primary  word  a  word  not  derived  from  another; 
  --  opposed  to  derivative. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  primitive 
  adj  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"  [syn:  {crude},  {rude}] 
  2:  being  or  resembling  a  force  of  nature;  "elemental  violence"; 
  "primitive  passions"  [syn:  {elemental}] 
  3:  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"  [syn:  {archaic}] 
  4:  not  derived  from  or  reducible  to  something  else;  basic;  "a 
  primary  instinct";  "seeks  excellence  at  its  primitive 
  source--nature"-  John  Dewey  [syn:  {primary}] 
  5:  (linguistics)  serving  as  the  basis  for  derived  or  inflected 
  forms;  "`pick'  is  the  primitive  word  from  which  `picket' 
  is  derived"  [ant:  {derivative}] 
  6:  (anthropology;  of  societies)  preliterate  or  tribal  or 
  nonindustrial;  "primitive  societies" 
  7:  (fine  arts)  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" 
  8:  (mathematics)  being  an  algebraic  or  geometric  expression 
  from  which  another  expression  is  derived 
  n  :  a  person  who  belongs  to  early  stage  of  civilization  [syn:  {primitive 
  person}] 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  primitive 
 
    A  {function},  {operator},  or  {type}  which  is 
  built  into  a  programming  language  (or  {operating  system}), 
  either  for  speed  of  execution  or  because  it  would  be 
  impossible  to  write  it  in  the  language.  Primitives  typically 
  include  the  arithmetic  and  logical  operations  (plus,  minus, 
  and  or  etc.)  and  are  implemented  by  a  small  number  of 
  {machine  language}  instructions. 
 
  (1995-05-01) 
 
 

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