'Primitive Fathers' definitions:
Definition of 'Primitive Fathers'
From: GCIDE
- Primitive \Prim"i*tive\, a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.]
- 1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive great sire." --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of dress. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar. [1913 Webster]
- Primitive axes of coordinate (Geom.), that system of axes to which the points of a magnitude are first referred, with reference to a second set or system, to which they are afterward referred.
- Primitive chord (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of which is of the same literal denomination as the fundamental base of the harmony; -- opposed to derivative. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).
- Primitive circle (Spherical Projection), the circle cut from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane.
- Primitive colors (Paint.), primary colors. See under Color.
- Primitive Fathers (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D.
- 325. --Shipley.
- Primitive groove (Anat.), a depression or groove in the epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of it.
- Primitive plane (Spherical Projection), the plane upon which the projections are made, generally coinciding with some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a meridian.
- Primitive rocks (Geol.), primary rocks. See under Primary.
- Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.
- Primitive streak or Primitive trace (Anat.), an opaque and thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the vertebrate blastoderm. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval; antiquated; old-fashioned. [1913 Webster]