In the investigation both of the orthography and signification of words, their ETYMOLOGY was necessarily to be considered, and they were therefore to be divided into primitives and derivatives. A primitive word, is that which can be traced no further to any English root; thus circumspect, circumvent, circumstance, delude, concave and complicate, though compounds in the Latin, are to us primitives.
–Preface to A Dictionary of the English
Language,
Samuel Johnson
What is the connotation of the word primitives as it is used in the passage?
Based on the word’s connotation, what is the meaning of primitives as it is used in the passage?
