primevally

English

Etymology

From primeval +‎ -ly.

Adverb

primevally (comparative more primevally, superlative most primevally)

  1. In a primeval manner; in or from the earliest times; originally.
    • 1871, Charles Darwin, “Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals—continued”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part I (On the Descent of Man), page 84:
      Some authors suppose that man primevally lived in single families; but at the present day, though single families, or only two or three together, roam the solitudes of some savage lands, they are always, as far as I can discover, friendly with other families inhabiting the same district.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “primevally”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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