English Dictionary: Primitive | by the DICT Development Group |
4 results for Primitive | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Primitive \Prim"i*tive\, a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the first: cf. F. primitif. See {Prime}, a.] 1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. [bd]Our primitive great sire.[b8] --Milton. 2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of dress. 3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar. {Primitive axes of co[94]rdinate} (Geom.), that system of axes to which the points of a magnitude are first referred, with reference to a second set or system, to which they are afterward referred. {Primitive chord} (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of which is of the same literal denomination as the fundamental base of the harmony; -- opposed to derivative. --Moore (Encyc. of Music). {Primitive circle} (Spherical Projection), the circle cut from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane. {Primitive colors} (Paint.), primary colors. See under {Color}. {Primitive Fathers} (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D. 325. --Shipley. {Primitive groove} (Anat.), a depression or groove in the epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of it. {Primitive plane} (Spherical Projection), the plane upon which the projections are made, generally coinciding with some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a meridian. {Primitive rocks} (Geol.), primary rocks. See under {Primary}. {Primitive sheath}. (Anat.) See {Neurilemma}. {Primitive streak} [or] {trace} (Anat.), an opaque and thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the vertebrate blastoderm. Syn: First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval; antiquated; old-fashioned. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Primitive \Prim"i*tive\, n. An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; -- opposed to derivative. | |
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
primitive built into a programming language (or {operating system}), either for speed of execution or because it would be impossible to write it in the language. Primitives typically include the arithmetic and logical operations (plus, minus, and, or, etc.) and are implemented by a small number of {machine language} instructions. (1995-05-01) |