Primitive

prim′i-tiv, adj. belonging to the beginning, or to the first times: original: ancient: antiquated, old-fashioned: not derived: ( biol. ) rudimentary, primary or first of its kind: ( geol. ) of the earliest formation.— n. a primitive word, or one not derived from another: ( math. ) a form from which another is derived.— ns.pl. Prim′itive-col′ours , the colours from which all others are supposed to be derived—viz. red, yellow, and blue; Prim′itive-fa′thers , the Christian writers before the Council of Nice, 325 A.D. — adv. Prim′itively .— n.pl. Prim′itive-Meth′odists , a religious body founded in 1810, whose beliefs are the same as those of other Methodists, but whose working arrangements are nearly Presbyterian.— n. Prim′itivene .— n.pl. Prim′itive-rocks (see Primary-rocks ). [Fr.,—L. primitivus , an extension of primus .]