Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Remaining in a pure state, without human alteration.
  • adjective Remaining free from dirt or decay; clean.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or typical of the earliest time or condition; primitive or original.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or belonging to a primitive or early state or period; original; primitive: as, pristine innocence; the pristine manners of a people.
  • Synonyms Primitive, etc. See primary.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Belonging to the earliest period or state; original; primitive; primeval

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Unspoiled; still with its original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied
  • adjective Primitive, pertaining to the earliest state of something
  • adjective Relating to sawfishes of the family Pristidae.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective immaculately clean and unused
  • adjective completely free from dirt or contamination

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin prīstinus; see per in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French pristin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek πρίστης (pristēs, "a saw, one that saws")

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