| CARVIEW |
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Belonging to the first or earliest age or ages; original or ancient.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or belonging to the first ages; original; primal; primitive.
- Synonyms Primitive, etc. See
primary .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Belonging to the first ages; pristine; original; primitive; primary.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Belonging to the first ages.
- adjective
Primary ;original . - adjective
Primitive .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word primeval.
Examples
-
There might have been more heroic characters at the siege of Troy than Abraham Lincoln, but there was not one more strongly marked individually; not one his superior in what we call primeval craft and humor.
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
-
Herbert urged that he must at least admit that there was a freshness of legend and poetry in what we call the primeval peoples that is wanting now; the mythic period is gone, at any rate.
Backlog Studies Charles Dudley Warner 1864
-
There might have been more heroic characters at the siege of Troy than Abraham Lincoln, but there was not one more strongly marked individually; not one his superior in what we call primeval craft and humor.
Backlog Studies Charles Dudley Warner 1864
-
Herbert urged that he must at least admit that there was a freshness of legend and poetry in what we call the primeval peoples that is wanting now; the mythic period is gone, at any rate.
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
-
Martian civilization had burrowed underground at some point in primeval history, after the oceans, lakes, and rivers had dried up.
The Spy 2010
-
March 26, 2009 at 5: 16 am primeval is the best and the the animals are the best
-
Instead of the prime vegetables more fittingly described by the word primeval, artfully displayed in the window for the delectation of the military man and his fellow country-woman the nursemaid, honest
-
Instead of the prime vegetables more fittingly described by the word primeval, artfully displayed in the window for the delectation of the military man and his fellow country-woman the nursemaid, honest Flicoteaux exhibited full salad-bowls adorned with many a rivet, or pyramids of stewed prunes to rejoice the sight of the customer, and assure him that the word
Lost Illusions Honor�� de Balzac 1824
-
Instead of the prime vegetables more fittingly described by the word primeval, artfully displayed in the window for the delectation of the military man and his fellow country-woman the nursemaid, honest Flicoteaux exhibited full salad-bowls adorned with many a rivet, or pyramids of stewed prunes to rejoice the sight of the customer, and assure him that the word
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Honor�� de Balzac 1824
-
The patio of his hotel room opened onto an immaculate, dew-fresh lawn, shaded by massive mango and apple trees, that descended gently to the edge of what can only be described as a primeval forest.
Here Comes Another Lesson Stephen O’Connor 2010
Related Words
synonyms (91)
Words with the same meaning
- -ol
- abecedarian
- aboriginal
- ancestral
- ancient
- antenatal
- antepatriarchal
- atavistic
- autochthonous
- basal
- basic
- beginning
- budding
- central
- creative
- crucial
- early
- elemental
- elementary
- embryonic
- erstwhile
- fetal
- fore
- formative
- former
- foundational
- fundamental
- generative
- genetic
- germinal
- gestatory
- humanoid
- immemorial
- in embryo
- in its infancy
- in ovo
- in the bud
- inaugural
- inceptive
- inchoate
- inchoative
- incipient
- incunabular
- infant
- infantile
- initial
- initiative
- initiatory
- introductory
- inventive
- late
- nascent
- natal
- old
- olden
- once
- onetime
- original
- parturient
- past
- patriarchal
- postnatal
- preadamite
- preglacial
- pregnant
- prehistoric
- prehuman
- prenatal
- previous
- primal
- primary
- prime
- primitive
- primogenial
- primoprimitive
- primordial
- prior
- pristine
- procreative
- protogenic
- protohistoric
- protohuman
- quondam
- radical
- recent
- rudimental
- rudimentary
- seminal
- sometime
- then
- ur
pikachu commented on the word primeval
The smell of mud, of primeval mud, by Jove! was in my nostrils, the high stillness of the primeval forest was before my eyes.
--Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
March 9, 2011