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

Very simple and basic, not advanced: «a primitive tool made of stone». tree →
Belonging to an early stage of development, long ago: «primitive life forms». tree →
(art) A painter or style that is simple and untrained-looking on purpose or by nature. tree →
(old, now hurtful) Once used about peoples or cultures thought to be «less advanced»; today this is seen as unfair and rude. tree →

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 →
Bacteria are among the most primitive living things. tree →
The hut was primitive, with no water or electricity. tree →
His first robot was primitive but it could move forward. tree →
Primitive fish had no jaws. tree →
We camped in primitive conditions on the island. tree →
Calling another people «primitive» is unfair; their ways are just different. tree →
They were at last blown on shore, for navigation was primitive in those days. tree →

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 →
For an illustration may serve the twenty-two elementary substances by the primitive substance of Aleph (א). (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
For an illustration may serve the twenty-two elementary substances by the primitive substance of Aleph [25] (א). (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →

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: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«primitive» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
Trees and pragmatics of «primitive» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«primitive» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.

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