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primitive
has definitions from the fields of anthropology,sociology,mathematics,linguistics,fine art
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[ adjective ] belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
Examples "the crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man" "primitive movies of the 1890s" "primitive living conditions" Used in print (Jaroslav Pelikan, The Shape of Death: life, death and...)Because he interprets the primitive state of man as one of mere potentiality or capacity and believes that Adam and Eve were created as children , Irenaeus often seems inclined to extenuate their disobedience as being `` due , no_doubt , to carelessness , but still wicked '' . (Frank Getlein and Harold C. Gardiner, S.J., Movies,...)Movement itself was the chief and often the only attraction of the primitive movies of the nineties . (Joyce O. Hertzler, American Social Institutions;...)These groups have varied widely from mere families , primitive , totemic groups , and small modern cults and sects , to the memberships of great denominations , and great , widely dispersed world religions . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] being or resembling a force of nature
Synonyms Examples "elemental violence" Used in print (Frank Oppenheimer, "Science and Fear-- A Discussion...)Will advances in human sciences help us build social_structures and governments which will enable us to cope_with people as_effectively_as the primitive combination of protein and nucleic_acid built a structure of molecules which enabled it to adapt to a sea of molecular interaction ? Related terms |
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[ adjective ] little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type
Synonyms Examples "archaic forms of life" "primitive mammals" "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe" Used in print (B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)On the basis of its life_history , we like to think that Andrena is more primitive than the bumblebees . (E. Gellhorn, "Prolegomena to a theory of the emotions"...)But even in relatively primitive laboratory animals such_as the rat , sex_activity closely identified with the hypothalamus and the visceral_brain is enhanced by the neocortex . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
Synonyms Examples "a primary instinct" Used in print (John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)The most primitive feelings are rudimentary value feelings , both positive and negative : a desire to appropriate this or that part of the environment into oneself ; a desire to avoid and repel this or that other part . It takes a great_deal of abstraction to free oneself from the primitive impression of larger unities of power and influence and to view one 's world simply as a collection of sense_data arranged in such_and_such sequence and pattern , devoid_of all power to move the feelings and actions except in_so_far as they present themselves for inspection . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] (anthropology; of societies) preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial
Examples "primitive societies" Used in print (Leon Uris, Mila 8....)Burly leathered men and wrinkled women in drab black rags carried_on in a primitive way , almost unchanged from feudal times . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] (linguistics) serving as the basis for derived or inflected forms
Examples "`pick' is the primitive word from which `picket' is derived" Used in print (Joyce O. Hertzler, American Social Institutions;...)Among primitive peoples the sanctions and dictates of religion were more binding than any of the other controls exercised by the group ; and in modern societies such influence is still great . Related terms |
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[ noun ] (linguistics) a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms
Examples "`pick' is the primitive from which `picket' is derived" Related terms |
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[ adjective ] (mathematics) being an algebraic or geometric expression from which another expression is derived
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[ noun ] (mathematics) a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived
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[ noun ] (anthropology,sociology) a person who belongs to early stage of civilization
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