Noah Webster
Primitive
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.