primitive

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French primitif, from Latin primitivus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from primus (“first”); see prime.

Pronunciation

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Noun

primitive (plural primitives)

1. 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. A basic geometric shape from which more complex shapes can be constructed.
6. (mathematics) A function whose derivative is a given function; an antiderivative.

Related terms

• multiprimitive
• prime

Translations

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: primitiu (ca) m
• Mandarin: 原始 (yuanshi)
• Dutch: primitief
• French: primitif (fr)
• German: ursprünglich (de)
• Greek: πρωτόγονος (el) (prōtogonos) m
• Italian: primitivo sg, primitivi pl,

• Japanese: 原始 (げんし, genshi)
• Korean: 원시 (wonsi)
• Latin: primitivum n
• Portuguese: primitivo (pt) m, primitiva (pt) f
• Russian: примитив (ru) (primitív) n
• Spanish: primitivo (es) m
• Turkish: ilkel (tr)

Adjective

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

2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.

   a primitive style of dress

3. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Crude, obsolete.
4. Original; primary; radical; not derived.

   a primitive verb [in grammar]

5. (biology) Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.

Derived terms

• primitiveness

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

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Translations

one of the adjectival senses

• Catalan: primitiu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 原始 (cmn) (yuánshǐ)

• Czech: primitivní (cs)
• Dutch: primitief (nl)
• Esperanto: primitiva (eo)
• Finnish: alkeellinen (fi)
• French: primitif (fr)
• German: primitiv (de)
• Greek: πρωτόγονος (el) (prōtógonos)
• Italian: primitivo (it)

• Japanese: 原始的 (ja) (げんしてき, genshiteki)
• Korean: 원시 (ko) (wonsi)
• Latin: primitivus (la) m
• Polish: prymitywny (pl) m
• Portuguese: primitivo (pt) m, primitiva (pt) f
• Romanian: primitiv (ro)
• Russian: примитивный (ru) (primitívnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: prȉmitīvan (sh)
• Spanish: primitivo (es) m

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French

Adjective

primitive

1. feminine form of primitif

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Italian

Adjective

primitive f

1. Feminine plural form of primitivo

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Latin

Adjective

prīmitīve

1. vocative masculine singular of prīmitīvus