different between primal vs atavistic

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin primalis, from Latin primus (“first”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?a?m?l/
• Rhymes: -a?m?l

Adjective

primal (not comparable)

1. Being the first in time or in history.

2. Of greatest importance; primary.
3. (meat trade) Being one of the pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass during butchering, prior to division into smaller cuts.

Synonyms

• (first in time or history): aboriginal, primaeval/primeval, primordial
• (of greatest importance): primary

Derived terms

• primal therapist
• primal therapy
• primality
• primally

Translations

Noun

primal (plural primals)

1. A primal cut (of meat).

Verb

primal (third-person singular simple present primals, present participle primaling or primalling, simple past and past participle primaled or primalled)

1. (intransitive) To take part in primal therapy.
   • 1979, The Journal of Orgonomy (volume 13, issue 1, page 108)

     One of my patients told me of an acquaintance who primaled in the shopping center. Janov described a patient who primaled on the tennis court. Apparently, once initiated, patients primal in any place at any time for the rest of their lives.

   • 1982, Lawrence Edwin Abt, Irving R. Stuart, The Newer Therapies: A Sourcebook (page 369)

     Primaling on the infant level seems so genuinely babyish that the unsophisticated observer may mistake it for psychotic behavior.

References

• Primal cut on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• imparl

English

Etymology

From atavism +? -istic, from French atavisme, from Latin atavus (“ancestor”), from at + avus (“grandfather”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /æt.??v?s.t?k/
• Rhymes: -?st?k

Adjective

atavistic (comparative more atavistic, superlative most atavistic)

1. (biology) of the recurrence of a trait reappearing after an absence of one or more generations due to a chance recombination of genes.
   • 1889, U.S. Office of Experiment Stations, Experiment Station Record

     Although the heterozygote gives it an atavistic appearance, the gene is not atavistic.

   • 2006, Roger E Stevenson, Judith G Hall, Human malformations and related anomalies

     Reactivation of a dormant atavistic gene could account for the abnormal costocoracoid ligament in humans.

2. of a throwback or exhibiting primitivism.
   • 2000, Steven Heller, Marshall Arisman, The education of an illustrator

     Because I am atavistic enough to believe that drawing is the basic language of the illustrator, even as words comprise the basic language of the writer…

3. relating to earlier, more primitive behavior that returns after an absence.

Synonyms

• atavistical

Derived terms

• atavistically

Related terms

• atavism
• atavist

Translations