Wiktionary

primitive

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English primitif, from Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from prīmus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪmɪtɪv/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪmɪtɪv
  • Hyphenation: prim‧i‧tive

NounEdit

primitive (plural primitives)

  1. (linguistics) An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.
  2. A member of a primitive society.
  3. A simple-minded person.
  4. (computing, programming) A data type that is built into the programming language, as opposed to more complex structures.
  5. (computing, programming) Any of the simplest elements (instructions, statements, etc.) available in a programming language[1].
  6. A basic geometric shape from which more complex shapes can be constructed.
  7. (mathematics) A function whose derivative is a given function; an antiderivative.

SynonymsEdit

  • word: primitive word, radical, radical word

TranslationsEdit

mathematical function — see antiderivative
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

AdjectiveEdit

primitive (comparative more primitive, superlative most primitive)

  1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.
    primitive innocence;   the primitive church
    • 1895, Edmund Montgomery, “To Be Alive, What is it?”, in The Monist:
      it is from such primitive beings that the highest organisms now extant are the marvellously developed descendants
  2. Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.
    Synonym: backwards
    a primitive style of dress
    • 1959, Mircea Eliade; Willard R. Trask, transl., “Introduction”, in The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion (Harvest Book; HB 144), New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace & World, →ISBN, page 11:
      It could be said that the history of religions—from the most primitive to the most highly developed—is constituted by a great number of hierophanies, by manifestations of sacred realities.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎[1]:
      By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.
  3. Crude, obsolete.
    primitive ideas
  4. (grammar) Original; primary; radical; not derived.
    Synonym: radical
    Antonyms: derivative, derived
    a primitive verb
    • 1831, Noah Webster, Rudiments of English Grammar; Being an Abridgment of the Improved Grammar of the English Language, New-Haven, p.6:
      Division of words. Words are primitive or radical, and derivative or compound.
      Of primitive words. Primitive or radical words are such as cannot be divided, or separated into parts which are significant; as man, hope, bless.
  5. (biology) Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
  6. (mathematics) Not derived from another of the same type
    Synonym: imprimitive
  7. (linguistics, dated) most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of
    Synonym: proto-
    • 1933, Leonard Bloomfield, Language, Henry Holt, p. 13
      We infer that other groups of related languages, such as the Germanic (or the Slavic or the Celtic), which show a similar resemblance, have arisen in the same way; it is only an accident of history that for these groups we have no written records of the earlier state of the language, as it was spoken before the differentiation set in. To these unrecorded languages we give names like Primitive Germanic (Primitive Slavic, Primitive Celtic, and so on).

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Page on the English Wikipedia

FrenchEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

AdjectiveEdit

primitive

  1. feminine singular of primitif

Etymology 2Edit

By ellipsis of [fonction] primitive.

NounEdit

primitive f (plural primitives)

  1. (mathematics) antiderivative
    Antonym: dérivée

See alsoEdit

Further readingEdit

GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

primitive

  1. inflection of primitiv:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

ItalianEdit

AdjectiveEdit

primitive

  1. feminine plural of primitivo

LatinEdit

AdjectiveEdit

prīmitīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of prīmitīvus

Norwegian BokmålEdit

AdjectiveEdit

primitive

  1. definite singular of primitiv
  2. plural of primitiv

Norwegian NynorskEdit

AdjectiveEdit

primitive

  1. definite singular of primitiv
  2. plural of primitiv
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