時間上真的早：屬於最早的階段
核心畫面最直接的用法——不是比喻，是真的站在時間軸的前端。
primitive, prehistoric way of life · adjective · C1
Belonging to a simple way of life in the past, without modern machines or factories.
原始的
核心畫面
One way to picture it: something still standing at the first stage — before the layers that came later were added on.
某個東西還停在「最前面那一階」。拉丁字根 prīmus 就是 first（第一），primitive 講的就是「屬於…更多收起
某個東西還停在「最前面那一階」。拉丁字根 prīmus 就是 first（第一），primitive 講的就是「屬於最早的那個階段」。想像一條從古到今的路，路上一層層加了工具、技術、規則、思考；primitive 的東西站在起點那裡，後面那些層還沒疊上去。它有時候是時間上真的早（原始社會），有時候只是「像最早那樣簡陋」（連鍋子都沒有的廚房）——後者才是日常最常用的。From the word’s history
From Latin prīmitīvus 'first or earliest of its kind', from prīmus 'first' — the same root as prime and primary.
來自拉丁文 prīmitīvus（同類中最早的），字根是 prīmus（第一），和 prime、primary、primary school 同一家族。認出 prim- = 第一，這個字的每個用法就都能回到「還在第一階」這個位置上。
Wiktionary（primitive 詞條）：From Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus ("first or earliest of its kind"), from prīmus ("first")。
Three branches
像最早那樣：簡陋、未經修飾
把「還在第一階」從時間搬到品質上：東西是現代的，但簡單、粗糙得像早期產物——該有的舒適和精緻都還沒加上去。
primitive, basic and crude · adjective · C1
Very simple, without the extra modern parts that would make something faster, better, or more comfortable.
簡陋的
心裡最早的那一層：不經思考的本能
把「第一階」放進人的內心：在文明、教養、理性這些後來的層次底下，還壓著一層更早、更動物性的反應——那一層就是 primitive。
primitive, instinctual (feelings) · adjective · C1
Feelings that are not based on careful thought. They seem to come from an old, animal-like part of a person.
本能的
原始詞典資料17 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
primitivenoun/ˈpɹɪmɪtɪv/
- 1
human-scienceslinguisticssciencesAn original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.
- 2
A member of a primitive society.
- 3
Primitive or primeval nature; the innate, instinctive element within a person; the deep, instinctive, precultural layer of human nature.
- It may be that, living among primitive surroundings, the dormant primitive deep within the white man is drawn towards the absolute primitive in the aboriginal.
- 4
Natural or premodern environment or conditions; life lacking modern technology and society.
- Out there in the primitive, white-man Rust had made his tools out of the primitive, as these stone-age people were making excellent string from the primitive.
- 5
A simple-minded person.
- 6
computingengineeringmathematicsA data type that is built into the programming language, as opposed to more complex structures.
- 7
computingengineeringmathematicsAny of the simplest elements (instructions, statements, etc.) available in a programming language.
- A write-what-where primitive allows the attacker to write arbitrary data wherever they want in the memory
- 8
A basic geometric shape from which more complex shapes can be constructed.
另外 1 個記錄的用法
- 9
mathematicssciencesA function whose derivative is a given function; an antiderivative.
primitiveadj/ˈpɹɪmɪtɪv/
- 1
Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.
- primitive innocence; the primitive church
- it is from such primitive beings that the highest organisms now extant are the marvellously developed descendants
- 2
Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.
- a primitive style of dress
- By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.
- 3
Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.
- I used primitive hearts to decorate the quilt.
- 4
Crude, obsolete.
- primitive ideas
- 5
grammarhuman-scienceslinguisticsOriginal; primary; radical; not derived.
- a primitive verb
- The primitive root in "children" is "child."
- 6
datedbiologynatural-sciencesOccurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
- 7
mathematicssciencesNot derived from another of the same type
- 8
datedhuman-scienceslinguisticssciencesmost recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of
- We infer that other groups of related languages, such as the Germanic (or the Slavic or the Celtic), which show a similar resemblance, have arisen in the same way; it is only an accident of history that for these groups we have no written records of the earlier state of the language, as it was spoken before the differentiation set in. To these unrecorded languages we give names like Primitive Germanic (Primitive Slavic, Primitive Celtic, and so on).
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。