English → Latin
“primitive” in Latin
prīmusfirst, early; chief, principal; most excellent, eminent; distinguished, noble; the first part of; the entrance, extremitprīmigeniusoriginal, primitive; firstbornprīncipālisfirst, original; chief, principalnātīvuscreated, made; inborn, innate, imparted by birth; natural, native, made by nature and not artificialcausacause, reason; case, claim, contention; cause, judicial process, lawsuitsignificātiōsignal, sign, mark, token; applause; meaning, import
The English word primitive itself goes back to Latin tūs, through prīmitīvus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
primitive
primus; primigenius (Varr.): principalis (e.g., causa, significatio): ☞ primitivus is late: nativus (natural). The primitive meaning of a word, ea verbi significatio, in qua natum est (Gell.): naturalis et principalis significatio verbi (Vid: Quint., 9, 1, 4): vera atque propria significatio verbi (its true and peculiar meaning, Gell., 12, 3, 5). Vid: also, ANCIENT.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for primitive?
- The usual Latin words for “primitive” are prīmus, prīmigenius, prīncipālis; also nātīvus, causa, significātiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.