From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprimevalpri‧me‧val (also primaeval British English) /praɪˈmiːvəl/ adjective 1 HEbelonging to the earliest time in the existence of the universe or the Earth Primeval clouds of gas formed themselves into stars.2 OLD/NOT NEWvery ancient primeval forests3 BASICprimeval feelings are very strong and seem to come from a part of people’s character that is ancient and animal-like the primeval urge to reproduce
Examples from the Corpus
primeval• First, amidst the primeval chaos, there existed only two mute creatures, rolled together and ignorant of sight or sound.• The water has a primeval chemistry that has prevailed along submarine mountain ranges since the breakup of Gondwanaland.• The sun and planets formed from a primeval cloud of gas about 5 billion years ago.• The waters of baptism represent the presence and power of that primeval deep for us.• Starkly primeval, it resembles the head of a giant gorilla!• Beyond the river had been a forest, one of the great primeval oak forests of ancient Ireland.• But flips millions of years ago are recorded in the orientation of metallic particles in primeval rocks.• By the fire in the centre of this primeval setting stood an elderly man and a dozen boys.• The primeval soup has turned into minestrone.• primeval tropical rainforestsOrigin primeval (1600-1700) Latin primaevus, from primus ( → PRIME1) + aevum “age” 