Part 537

The primitias of your parsonage.

Spenser.

Pri*mi"tial (?), a. Being of the first production; primitive; original. [Obs.] Ainsworth.

Prim"i*tive (?), a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.] 1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive great sire." Milton.

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 coˆrdinate (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.

Prim"i*tive, n. An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; -- opposed to derivative.

Prim"i*tive*ly, adv. 1. Originally; at first.

2. Primarily; not derivatively.

3. According to the original rule or ancient practice; in the ancient style. South.

Prim"i*tive*ness, n. The quality or state of being primitive; conformity to primitive style or practice.

Prim"i*ty (?), n. Quality of being first; primitiveness. [Obs.] Bp. Pearson.

Prim"ly, adv. In a prim or precise manner.

Prim"ness, n. The quality or state of being prim; affected formality or niceness; preciseness; stiffness.

||Pri"mo (?), a. [It.] (Mus.) First; chief.

Pri`mo*ge"ni*al (?), a. [See Primigenial.] First born, made, or generated; original; primary; elemental; as, primogenial light. Glanvill.

Pri`mo*gen"i*tive (?), a. [See Primogeniture.] Of or pertaining to primogeniture. [R.]

Pri`mo*gen"i*tive, n. Primogeniture. [Obs.]

The primogenitive and due of birth.

Shak.

Pri`mo*gen"i*tor (?), n. [LL., fr. L. primus first + genitor a begetter.] The first ancestor; a forefather.

Pri`mo*gen"i*ture (?; 135), n. [LL., fr. L. primus first + genitura a begetting, birth, generation, fr. genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. primogÈniture, L. primogenitus firstborn. See Prime, a., and Genus, Kin.] 1. The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family.

2. (Eng. Law) The exclusive right of inheritance which belongs to the eldest son. Thus in England the right of inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue. Blackstone.

Pri`mo*gen"i*ture*ship (?), n. The state or privileges of the firstborn. Burke.

Pri*mor"di*al (?), a. [L. primordialis, from primordium the first beginning; primus first + ordiri to begin a web, to begin: cf. F. primordial.] 1. First in order; primary; original; of earliest origin; as, primordial condition. "The primordial facts of our intelligent nature." Sir W. Hamilton.

2. (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the lowest beds of the Silurian age, corresponding to the Acadian and Potsdam periods in American geology. It is called also Cambrian, and by many geologists is separated from the Silurian.