PRIM'ITIVE, adjective [Latin primitivus; from primus, first.]

1. Pertaining to the beginning or origin; original; first; as the primitive state of Adam; primitive innocence; primitive ages; the primitive church; the primitive christian church or institutions; the primitive fathers.

2. Formal; affectedly solemn; imitating the supposed gravity of old times.

3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as a primitive verb in grammar.

Primitive rocks, in geology, rocks supposed to be first formed, being irregularly crystallized, and aggregated without a cement,

and containing no organic remains; as granite, gneiss, etc.

PRIM'ITIVE, noun An original word; a word not derived from another.