2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned;
characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of
dress.
3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive
verb in grammar.
{Primitive axes of co["o]rdinate} (Geom.), that system of
axes to which the points of a magnitude are first
referred, with reference to a second set or system, to
which they are afterward referred.
{Primitive chord} (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of
which is of the same literal denomination as the
fundamental base of the harmony; -- opposed to derivative.
--Moore (Encyc. of Music).
{Primitive circle} (Spherical Projection), the circle cut
from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane.
{Primitive colors} (Paint.), primary colors. See under
{Color}.
{Primitive Fathers} (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian
writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D.
325. --Shipley.
{Primitive groove} (Anat.), a depression or groove in the
epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with
the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of
it.
{Primitive plane} (Spherical Projection), the plane upon
which the projections are made, generally coinciding with
some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a
meridian.
{Primitive rocks} (Geol.), primary rocks. See under
{Primary}.
{Primitive sheath}. (Anat.) See {Neurilemma}.
{Primitive streak} or {trace} (Anat.), an opaque and
thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the
vertebrate blastoderm.
Syn: First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval;
antiquated; old-fashioned.