| alga |
any of various primitive, chiefly aquatic plants that have no roots, stems, or leaves, including the seaweeds and diatoms. |
| amphioxus |
a tiny fishlike marine organism characterized by a primitive vertebra and dorsal nerve tissue; lancelet. |
| antediluvian |
hopelessly old-fashioned; primitive; outdated. [1/4 definitions] |
| archenteron |
the primitive digestive cavity at the center of an embryo that is in the gastrula stage. |
| backwater |
any place that is seen as primitive, unchanging, or stagnant. [1/2 definitions] |
| backwoods |
(usu. used with a sing. verb) any primitive or isolated place. [2/4 definitions] |
| barbarian |
a person in a culture believed by those in another culture to be savage, primitive, or uncivilized. [1/4 definitions] |
| barbaric |
of or resembling barbarians; savage; primitive; brutal. [1/2 definitions] |
| barbarize |
to become primitive or lapse into crudity, brutality, or the like. [1/4 definitions] |
| blastema |
an undifferentiated or primitive mass of cells, as in an embryo or regenerating organ, that is capable of becoming organized into a specific tissue or organ. |
| bombard |
a primitive stone-throwing device, the precursor of the modern cannon. [1/4 definitions] |
| bowfin |
a primitive, carnivorous freshwater fish found in eastern North America that has a rounded tail and a long fin on its back. |
| bud1 |
in primitive animal organisms, a swelling or projecting growth that can develop into a complete organism. [1/8 definitions] |
| burial ground |
a place where ancient or primitive civilizations buried their dead, or a place where many soldiers were buried after a battle. |
| cryptozoic |
(cap.) of or pertaining to Precambrian rock strata yielding few and very primitive fossils. [2/3 definitions] |
| Darwinian theory |
Charles Darwin's theory that plants and animals evolved from early primitive life forms with variation caused by natural selection and survival of the fittest. (See evolution.) |
| dedifferentiation |
a stage in the regeneration of some tissue, in which specialized cells revert to primitive cells to produce a blastema. |
| eyespot |
a primitive visual organ that is sensitive to light, found in many invertebrates. [1/2 definitions] |
| hand ax |
a primitive, handleless stone implement shaped and used like the head of an ax. |
| hillbilly |
(informal) a person who comes from a remote rural area, esp. from the mountainous region of the southern United States; often, a person considered to be primitive or backward because of this residence or origin. [1/2 definitions] |
| Jurassic |
of, relating to, or designating the geological period between the Triassic and Cretaceous of the Mesozoic Era, from approximately 180 million to 135 million years ago, when primitive birds appeared and conifers were prominent. [1/2 definitions] |