Primitivenesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being primitive, often reflecting an unsophisticated or basic nature
2. the various instances or degrees of simplicity or original condition in development
3. characteristics associated with the earliest stages of cultural or societal evolution

Etymology: "Primitivenesses" is simply the plural of "primitiveness," which is a compound of two English parts: "primitive" and the suffix "-ness." The suffix comes from Old English "-nes," a noun-forming ending that turns an adjective into the name of a quality or state, so "primitiveness" means the condition of being primitive. The root "primitive" arrived in English from Latin "primitivus," meaning first of its kind, and it entered the language through Old French, where it was used for things original or early, long before it came to describe crude or basic ways of living. The plural form is less common than the singular, and it appears when writers want to speak of several distinct kinds or instances of the quality. Someone discussing different varieties of simplicity in art or design, for example, might use it to separate one state from another.