primal

 
Pronunciation: /ˈprʌɪm(ə)l/

adjective

  • 1relating to an early stage in evolutionary development; primeval: primal hunting societies
  • Psychology relating to or denoting the needs, fears, or behaviour that are postulated (especially in Freudian theory) to form the origins of emotional life: he preys on people’s primal fears
  • 2most important; primary or fundamental: rivers were the primal highways of life

Derivatives

primally

adverb

Origin:

early 17th century: from medieval Latin primalis, from Latin primus 'first'