primitive
French, noun/pʁi.mi.tiv/
primitive is spelled P-R-I-M-I-T-I-V-E (9 letters) and appears 3.1 times per million words in written French, the 15,592nd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Primitive is a French feminine noun meaning “antiderivative” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a feminine singular of primitif. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Femme appartenant à un peuple primitif”.
What does primitive mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineantiderivative
adjective
- 1
femininefeminine singular of primitif
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Femme appartenant à un peuple primitif.
noun: 1. Primitive d’une fonction f : Toute fonction dont la dérivée donne la fonction f. 2. Instruction, commande ou structure de base, dans un langage de programmation. 3. Élément graphique de base, à partir duquel on peut construire des objets plus complexes.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of primitive
- primitives plural
- primitif masculine
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce primitive?
- /pʁi.mi.tiv/
- \pʁi.mi.tiv\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to primitive
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is primitive in French?
primitive appears 3.1 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).