different between autochthonous vs primeval

English

Etymology

Literally, "native to the soil"; from autochthon +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???t?k??n?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??t?k??n?s/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??t?k??n?s/

Adjective

autochthonous (not comparable)

1. Native to the place where found; indigenous.
2. (biology, medicine) Originating where found; found where it originates.
   • 1983, Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey, volume 80, page 538:

     When, in 1858, Joseph Lister amputated the right leg of a six-year-old girl suffering from gangrene, he noted that the autochthonous blood clot extended down the anterior tibial artery as far as the commencement of the gangrene.

3. (geology) Buried in place, especially of a fossil preserved in its life position without disturbance or disarticulation.
   • 1992, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, et al., Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time, page 83:

     Death and burial may be simultaneous, resulting in a preserved snapshot of an autochthonous assemblage that may be compared directly with present day ecosystems.

Synonyms

• (native to the place where found): aboriginal, autochthonic, indigenous, native

Antonyms

• (native to the place where found, buried in place): allochthonous

Derived terms

• autochthonist
• autochthonously
• parautochthonous
• semiautochthonous

Related terms

• autochthon
• autochthonal
• autochthonic
• autochthonism
• autochthony

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• primaeval, primæval

Etymology

From primevous +? -al. Further, primevous, from Latin primaevus (“in the first or earliest period of life”), from primus (“first”) + aevum (“time, age”); see prime and age.

Pronunciation

• enPR: "pr?m'?v?l, IPA^(key): /?p?a??mi.v?l/

Adjective

primeval (comparative more primeval, superlative most primeval)

1. belonging to the first ages
2. primary; original
3. primitive
   • 1957, H. E. Bates, Death of a Huntsman

     If their views were entrancing their sanitation was primeval; if they possessed stables they were also next to the gas-works; if their gardens were delightful there were odours suspicious of mice in the bedrooms.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• primeval in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• primeval in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.