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First things first. "Primeval" comes from the Latin words primus, meaning "first, and aevum, meaning "age." In Latin, those terms were brought together to form "primaevus," a word that means "of or relating to the earliest ages." Other English words that descend from "primus" include "prime" and "primary," "primordial" (a synonym of "primeval"), and "primitive." "Primus" also gave rise to some terms for folks who are number one in charge, including "prince" and "principal."
Examples of primeval in a Sentence
JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Above all, Holland’s work has always led her to Poland—and specifically to Poland’s forests, which in her hands become a primeval landscape of terror and enchantment, wreathed in mists of historical memory that her camera has a peculiar ability to both evoke and dissipate.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 22 June 2024
Some of these vital-to-life substances also have primeval inceptions.
—Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 28 Mar. 2024
Back home, the ruling families harvested the proceeds to improve the lives of their people, who had, until then, lived in nearly primeval deprivation, with little access to electricity, clean water, medicine, or education.
—Jim Krane, Foreign Affairs, 19 Dec. 2014
One of Europe’s last old-growth forests spans the border of Belarus and Poland, a remnant of the vast primeval woods that once cloaked the European plain; most of it is now threatened by logging, despite its also being a World Heritage site.
—Alexis Marie Adams, Scientific American, 19 Mar. 2024
Salopek tells me that he’s noticed something almost primeval about entering a community that is not your own by foot.
—Sebastian Modak, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Apr. 2023
The team explores whether the primeval microbes that built elaborate rock formations in an extensive cave system could be used for medical purposes.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 Apr. 2024
Thus the primeval power of sudden darkness in the daytime could lead to some future hit tunes, action film sequences or fantasy novels.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 31 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'primeval.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near primeval
Cite this Entry
“Primeval.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/primeval. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
from Latin primaevus "relating to the very earliest ages," from primus "first" and aevum "age" — related to prime
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