Primitivism is the condition or quality of being primitive. Primitivism can refer to any philosophy which seeks to return to their roots, such as Muslims and Christians who seek to return to the first few centuries of Islam or Christianity. The Amish are a particularly obvious example of this, and the Primitive Baptist Church is another.

Indigenous peoples and their beliefs and practices are sometimes described as "primitive", a usage that is seen as unhelpful and inaccurate by the vast majority of contemporary anthropologists and similar professionals.

There are also various political or theoretical concepts regarding the primitive condition, or its advocation. Primitive communism postulates a pre-agrarian form of communism. Anarcho-primitivism advocates a return to a primitive condition. Luddites had a related philosophy.

Primitive'' may refer to:

• Anarcho-primitivism, an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization
  • Primitive culture, one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity
  • Noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization
  • Primitive communism, according to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
• Primitive Baptist, have an historical connection to an early 19th century controversy
• Primitive (biology), characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution, cf. basal

In math:

• Primitive (geometry), the simplest kinds of figures
• Primitive element (field theory)
• Primitive polynomial, one of two concepts
• Antiderivative, F′ = f

In computer science:

• Machine code, instructions and data directly understandable by a CPU
• Primitive type, datatypes provided by a programming language
• Primitive (geometry), the simplest kinds of figures in computer graphics

In art and entertainment:

• Naïve art, created by untrained artists
• Primitivism, looks to early human history and non-Western or children's art for inspiration
• Primitive (song), by Cyndi Lauper
• The Primitives, a British indie rock band

Primitivismus | Πριμιτιβισμός | Primitive | Primitiva | Primitivism