different between indigenous vs primitive

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin indigenus (“native, born in a country”), from indi- (indu-), an old derivative of in (“in”), gen- the root of gign? (“give birth to”), and English -ous. Compare indigene, Ancient Greek ????????? (endogen?s, “born in the house”), and the separately formed endogenous.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?d?d??n?s/
• (General American) enPR: ?n-d?j??-n?s, ?n-d?j??-n?s, IPA^(key): /?n?d?d??n?s/, /?n?d?d??n?s/
• Rhymes: -?d??n?s, -?d??n?s
• Hyphenation: in?dig?e?nous

Adjective

indigenous (not comparable)

1. Born or originating in, native to a land or region, especially before an intrusion. [from 17th c.]
   • 1862, Henry David Thoreau, "Wild Apples: The History of the Apple Tree":

     Not only the Indian, but many indigenous insects, birds, and quadrupeds, welcomed the apple-tree to these shores.

   • 1997, Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, Monthly Review Press, page 17:

     Horses, like camels, had once been indigenous to Latin America but had become extinct.

   1. In particular, of or relating to a people (or their language or culture) that inhabited a region prior to the arrival of people of other cultures which became dominant (e.g., through colonialism), and which maintains a distinct culture.

2. Innate, inborn. [from 19th c.]
   • 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, ch. 18:

     She was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,—cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race.

   • 1883, George MacDonald, "Stephen Archer" in Stephen Archer and Other Tales:

     He had all the tricks of a newspaper boy indigenous in him.

Usage notes

• Some style guides recommend capitalizing Indigenous in reference to the racial/ethnic/cultural category. (Lowercase indigenous has historically been more common.)

Synonyms

• (native): aboriginal, autochthonous, local; See also Thesaurus:native
• (innate, inborn): connatural, natural; See also Thesaurus:innate

Derived terms

Related terms

• indigena

Translations

References

References

• indigenous at OneLook Dictionary Search
• indigenous in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• indigenous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Alternative forms

• primative (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French primitif, from Latin pr?mit?vus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from pr?mus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??m?t?v/
• Rhymes: -?m?t?v
• Hyphenation: prim?i?tive

Noun

primitive (plural primitives)

1. (linguistics) An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.
2. A member of a primitive society.
3. A simple-minded person.
4. (computing, programming) A data type that is built into the programming language, as opposed to more complex structures.
5. (computing, programming) Any of the simplest elements (instructions, statements, etc.) available in a programming language.
6. A basic geometric shape from which more complex shapes can be constructed.
7. (mathematics) A function whose derivative is a given function; an antiderivative.

Synonyms

• word: primitive word, radical, radical word

Translations

Adjective

primitive (comparative more primitive, superlative most primitive)

1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.

2. Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.

   Synonym: backwards
3. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Crude, obsolete.

   primitive ideas

4. (grammar) Original; primary; radical; not derived.

   Synonym: radical

   Antonyms: derivative, derived

   • 1831, Noah Webster, Rudiments of English Grammar; Being an Abridgment of the Improved Grammar of the English Language, New-Haven, p.6:

     Division of words. Words are primitive or radical, and derivative or compound.

     Of primitive words. Primitive or radical words are such as cannot be divided, or separated into parts which are significant; as man, hope, bless.

5. (biology) Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
6. (mathematics) Not derived from another of the same type

   Synonym: imprimitive

7. (linguistics, dated) most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of

   Synonym: proto-

   • 1933, Leonard Bloomfield, Language, Henry Holt, p. 13

     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).

Derived terms

• multiprimitive
• primitiveness

Translations

References

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?i.mi.tiv/

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the main entry.

Adjective

primitive

1. feminine singular of primitif

Etymology 2

By ellipsis of [fonction] primitive.

Noun

primitive f (plural primitives)

1. (mathematics) antiderivative

   Antonym: dérivée

See also

• intégrale

Further reading

• “primitive” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

primitive

1. inflection of primitiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

primitive

1. feminine plural of primitivo

Latin

Adjective

pr?mit?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of pr?mit?vus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

primitive

1. definite singular of primitiv
2. plural of primitiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

primitive

1. definite singular of primitiv
2. plural of primitiv