radical

adj
/ˈɹædɪkəl/

Etymology

PIE word *wréh₂ds Inherited from Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”). Compare grassroots.

  1. derived from rādīcālis — “of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical
  2. inherited from radical

Definitions

  1. Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.

    • His beliefs are radical.
  2. Pertaining to a root (of a plant).

  3. Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.

    • The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed their radical independence.
  4. + 19 more definitions
    1. Thoroughgoing

      Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.

      • The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed.
    2. Of or pertaining to the root of a word.

    3. Produced using the root of the tongue.

    4. Involving free radicals.

    5. Relating to a radix or mathematical root.

      • a radical quantity; a radical sign
    6. Excellent

      Excellent; awesome.

      • That was a radical jump!
    7. A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party

      A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).

    8. A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a…

      A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a republican constitution, and secular politics.

    9. A person with radical opinions.

    10. A root (of a number or quantity).

    11. In logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a…

      In logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character used to index it. Often, but not always, this is also the portion indicating meaning; compare the following sense.

    12. In Celtic languages, the basic, underlying form of an initial consonant which can be…

      In Celtic languages, the basic, underlying form of an initial consonant which can be further mutated under the Celtic initial consonant mutations.

    13. In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a…

      In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.

    14. A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.

    15. A free radical.

    16. Given an ideal I in a commutative ring R, another ideal, denoted Rad(I) or √, such that…

      Given an ideal I in a commutative ring R, another ideal, denoted Rad(I) or √, such that an element x ∈ R is in Rad(I) if, for some positive integer n, xⁿ ∈ I; equivalently, the intersection of all prime ideals containing I.

    17. Given a ring R, an ideal containing elements of R that share a property considered, in…

      Given a ring R, an ideal containing elements of R that share a property considered, in some sense, "not good".

    18. The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.

    19. The product of the distinct prime factors of a given positive integer.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for radical. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA