Definition of: primitive

(prim′ə·tiv) adjective
1. Pertaining to the beginning or origin; first; earliest; primary.
2. Resembling the manners or style of long ago; old–fashioned; simple; plain.
3. Geol. Of, belonging to, or characterized by the earliest geological period: said especially of the crystalline, unstratified, and massive rocks, the oldest known.
4. Anthropol. Of or pertaining to the beginning or earliest anthropological forms or civilizations; primitive man, primitive weapons.
5. Biol. a Being or occurring at an early stage of development or growth; first–formed; rudimentary. b Not much changed by evolution: a primitive species.
6. Ling. Standing in original relation, as a word from which a derivative is made; radical: opposed to derived.
7. Theol. Adhering to strictly traditional interpretation of doctrine and Scripture: the primitive church.
—noun
1. Ling. A primary or radical word; also, a word from which another is derived.
2. Math. A form in algebra or geometry from which another is derived.
3. An artist, or a work of art, belonging to a very early period of art, or to the earliest phase of an art development or movement; also, a work of any period resembling or imitating such art, or an artist producing it: often characterized by simplicity or a childlike quality. See synonyms under FIRST, PRIMEVAL, RADICAL. [<L primitivus <primus first]
—prim′i·tive·ly adverb
—prim′i·tive·ness, prim′i·tiv′i·ty noun