Dictionary

primeval en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /pɹəi̯-/ (Scotland)
• /pɹʌi̯-/ (Scotland)
• prī-mē′vəl
• /pɹaɪ̯ˈmiː.vəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /pɹɑe̯ˈmiː.vəl/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• /-vʌl/ (Scotland)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /pɹʌɪ̯-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /pɹaɪ̯ˈmi.vəl/ (Canada, General-American, Scotland)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. Belonging to the first ages.
   • a primeval galaxy
   • And Tarzan had to be contented with that arrangement, though he would have liked it well enough to have set off the next morning—he was as impatient as a child. Really Tarzan of the Apes was but a child, or a primeval man, which is the same thing in a way. 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 130:
2. Primary; original.
   • A letter from Mr. [Brian Houghton] Hodgson to Mr. Bayley, was then read, giving an outline of the theocracy of the Buddha system of Nepal. […] According to the information now communicated, the northern Buddhas acknowledge four sets of divine beings, or of superhuman objects of veneration. The first of these is, contrary to the generally supposed atheistical tendency of the faith, one primæval and uncreated deity. This first Buddha manifested five of his attributes, as five secondary Buddhas; in one of whom, Amitabha, or the 'immeasurably splendid,' in Prakrit and Pali, Amitabo, we recognise the Amito of the Japanese. 1827 July, “Asiatic Society of Calcutta”, in The Oriental Herald, and Journal of General Literature, volume XIV, number 43, London: Printed for the editor, and sold by all booksellers [printed by J. R. Gordon, 147, Strand], →OCLC, page 147:
   • But if life has a happiness over which the primeval curse has passed and harmed not, it is the early and long enduring affection of blood and habit. 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 116:
3. Primitive.
   • 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. 1957, Herbert Ernest Bates, Death of a Huntsman, page 185:

Forms

Deriveds

primeval soup (evolutionary theory) · primeval forest · primevally · forest primeval · primevalness · primevality

Translations (61)

ga cianaosta (belonging to the first ages) · fr originel (primary; original) · de ursprünglich (primary; original) · fr primitif (primitive) · es primario (primary; original) · mk првобитен (primitive) · ru примити́вный (primitive) · de einfach (primitive) · bg праисторически (belonging to the first ages) · mk исконски (primary; original) · oc original (primary; original) · ru первобы́тный (belonging to the first ages) · gl primixéneo (belonging to the first ages) · es primitivo (primitive) · grc ᾰ̓ρχαῖος (belonging to the first ages) · pt primevo (belonging to the first ages) · tl noong-unang-panahon (belonging to the first ages) · fi alkuperäinen (primary; original) · es primevo (primitive) · pl przedwieczny (belonging to the first ages) · tl ka-noon-noonan (belonging to the first ages) · es primigenio (belonging to the first ages) · pl prastary (belonging to the first ages) · he ימי קדם (belonging to the first ages) · ru первозда́нный (primary; original) · ru первонача́льный (primary; original) · gd àrsaidh (belonging to the first ages) · bg първичен (primary; original) · cmn 原始的 (belonging to the first ages) · sv urtids- (belonging to the first ages) · uk приміти́вний (primitive) · fi alkeellinen (primitive) · oc primitiu (primitive) · mk исконски (belonging to the first ages) · ja 原生 (belonging to the first ages) · gd seantaidh (belonging to the first ages) · gv bun-eashagh (belonging to the first ages) · pl pradawny (belonging to the first ages) · bg първобитен (primitive) · de urzeitlich (belonging to the first ages) · fi iki- (belonging to the first ages) · de Ur- (primary; original) · cs pravěký (belonging to the first ages) · fi alku- (belonging to the first ages) · ja 原始 (belonging to the first ages) · pl pierwotny (primary; original) · es originario (primary; original) · ca primigeni (belonging to the first ages) · de primitiv (primitive) · pl pradziejowy (belonging to the first ages) · ga príomhaoiseach (belonging to the first ages) · el αρχέγονος (belonging to the first ages) · ka პირველყოფილი (belonging to the first ages) · sv urtida (belonging to the first ages) · egy pA-A-w-t:y-X6 (belonging to the first ages) · it primordiàle (belonging to the first ages) · pl prymitywny (primitive) · es primevo (belonging to the first ages) · fr primitif (belonging to the first ages) · uk прада́вній (belonging to the first ages) · uk пе́рві́сний (primary; original)