[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/primitive/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [P](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/p/) / primitive

# primitive

adjective (more primitive, most primitive); noun (a primitive, primitives — rare)

«primitive» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Very simple and basic, not advanced: «a primitive tool made of stone». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#m1)
2. Belonging to an early stage of development, long ago: «primitive life forms». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#m2)
3. (art) A painter or style that is simple and untrained-looking on purpose or by nature. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#m3)
4. (old, now hurtful) Once used about peoples or cultures thought to be «less advanced»; today this is seen as unfair and rude. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#m4)

### In the lessons

In history and science lessons it describes early tools, cells or animals; in everyday life it means basic: «The campsite toilets were primitive.» In computing a «primitive» is a basic building block. Phrases: «primitive tools», «primitive life», «primitive conditions».

### Examples

- Early humans made primitive tools from flint. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x1)
- Bacteria are among the most primitive living things. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x2)
- The hut was primitive, with no water or electricity. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x3)
- His first robot was primitive but it could move forward. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x4)
- Primitive fish had no jaws. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x5)
- We camped in primitive conditions on the island. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x6)
- Calling another people «primitive» is unfair; their ways are just different. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x7)
- They were at last blown on shore, for navigation was primitive in those days. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/#x8)

### Note

Adverb: primitively. Be careful: using «primitive» about real living peoples or cultures is old-fashioned and hurtful. In science «primitive» means early or simple in form, not «worse».

## In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah it means the first, original stuff from which later things were made, as in the "primitive substance of Aleph."

**Interpretation.** The tradition reads the letters as the building blocks of creation, with each letter standing for a basic substance.

### Examples

- 3) Primitive water emanated from the air. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/primitive/#x1)
- For an illustration may serve the twenty-two elementary substances by the primitive substance of Aleph (א). (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/primitive/#x2)
- For an illustration may serve the twenty-two elementary substances by the primitive substance of Aleph \[25\] (א). (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/primitive/#x3)

### Note

Adverb: primitively. Be careful: using «primitive» about real living peoples or cultures is old-fashioned and hurtful. In science «primitive» means early or simple in form, not «worse».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «primitive» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/primitive/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«primitive» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/primitive.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «primitive» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/primitive/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«primitive» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/primitive.html) on Mova free.