primeval
adjective /praɪˈmiːvl/
/praɪˈmiːvl/
(British English also primaeval)
[usually before noun]- from the earliest period of the history of the world, very ancient
- primeval forests
- primeval soup (= the mixture of gases and substances that is thought to have existed when the earth was formed and from which life started)
- (formal) (of a feeling, or a desire) very strong and not based on reason, as if from the earliest period of human life
- primeval urges
Word Originmid 17th cent.: from Latin primaevus (from primus ‘first’ + aevum ‘age’) + -al.