primitive Meaning and Definition

1. n. a word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms

2. n. a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived

3. n. a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization

4. s. used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies

5. s. little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type

6. s. belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness

7. s. of or created by one without formal training; simple or naive in style