Primitive is a subjective label used to imply that one thing is less "sophisticated" or less "advanced" than some other thing. Being a comparative word it is also relative in nature.

Indigenous peoples and their beliefs and practices are sometimes described as "primitive or primitive cottage", a usage that is seen as unhelpful and inaccurate by the vast majority of contemporary anthropologists and similar professionals.

There are also various political or theoretical concepts regarding the primitive condition, or its advocation. Primitive communism pre-agrarian form of communism. Anarcho-primitivism advocates a return to a primitive condition. Luddites had a related philosophy.

Look up primitive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Primitive may refer to:

• Anarcho-primitivism, an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization
• Primitive culture, one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity
• Noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization
• Primitive communism, according to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
• Primitive Church, another name for early Christianity
• Primitive Baptist, a religious movement seeking to retain or restore early Christian practices
• Primitive (biology), characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution, cf. basal

In mathematics:

• Primitive (geometry), the simplest kinds of figures
• Primitive element (field theory)
• Primitive element (finite field)
• Primitive cell (crystallography)
• Primitive polynomial, one of two concepts
• Primitive function or Antiderivative, F′ = f

In computer science:

• Language primitive, the simplest element provided by a programming language
• Machine code, instructions and data directly understandable by a CPU
• Primitive type, a datatype provided by a programming language
• Primitive (geometry), the simplest kinds of figures in computer graphics
• Cryptographic primitives, low-level cryptographic algorithms frequently used to build computer security systems

In art and entertainment:

• Naïve art, created by untrained artists
• Neo-primitivism, looks to early human history, folk art and non-Western or children's art for inspiration
• Primitive (song), by Cyndi Lauper
• Primitive (song), by The Groupies and covered by The Cramps
• The Primitives, a British indie rock band
• Primitive (album), by Soulfly
• Primitive Radio Gods, an American alternative rock band
• Primitivism, an early 20th century art movement

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