Adjacent Words

Radical definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RAD'ICAL, a. [L. radicalis, from radix, root. See Race and Ray.]
1. Pertaining to the root or origin; original; fundamental; as a radical truth or error; a radical evil; a radical difference of opinions or systems.
2. Implanted by nature; native; constitutional; as the radical moisture of a body.
3. Primitive; original; underived; uncompounded; as a radical word.
4. Serving to origination.
5. In botany, proceeding immediately from the root; as a radical leaf or peduncle.
RAD'ICAL, n.
1. In philology, a primitive word; a radix, root, or simple underived uncompounded word.
2. A primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix.
3. in chimistry, an element, or a simple constituent part of a substance, which is incapable of decomposition.
That which constitutes the distinguishing part of an acid, by its union with oxygen.
Compound radical is the base of an acid composed of two or more substances. Thus a vegetable acid having a radical composed of hydrogen and carbon, is said to be an acid with a compound radical.
Radical quantities, in algebra, quantities whose roots may be accurately expressed in numbers. The term is sometimes extended to all quantities under the radical sign.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm; "extremist political views"; "radical opinions on education"; "an ultra conservative" [syn: extremist, radical, ultra]
2: markedly new or introducing radical change; "a revolutionary discovery"; "radical political views" [syn: revolutionary, radical]
3: arising from or going to the root or source; "a radical flaw in the plan"
4: of or relating to or constituting a linguistic root; "a radical verb form"
5: especially of leaves; located at the base of a plant or stem; especially arising directly from the root or rootstock or a root-like stem; "basal placentation"; "radical leaves" [syn: radical, basal] [ant: cauline] n
1: (chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule [syn: group, radical, chemical group]
2: an atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule that has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule; "in the body free radicals are high-energy particles that ricochet wildly and damage cells" [syn: free radical, radical]
3: a person who has radical ideas or opinions
4: (mathematics) a quantity expressed as the root of another quantity
5: a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram
6: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: root, root word, base, stem, theme, radical]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin radicalis, from Latin radic-, radix root — more at root Date: 14th century 1. of, relating to, or proceeding from a root: as a. (1) of or growing from the root of a plant <radical tubers> (2) growing from the base of a stem, from a rootlike stem, or from a stem that does not rise above the ground <radical leaves> b. of, relating to, or constituting a linguistic root c. of or relating to a mathematical root d. designed to remove the root of a disease or all diseased and potentially diseased tissue <radical surgery> <radical mastectomy> 2. of or relating to the origin ; fundamental 3. a. marked by a considerable departure from the usual or traditional ; extreme b. tending or disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions c. of, relating to, or constituting a political group associated with views, practices, and policies of extreme change d. advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs <the radical right> 4. slang excellent, cool • radicalness noun II. noun Date: 1641 1. a. a root part b. a basic principle ; foundation 2. a. root 6 b. a sound or letter belonging to a radical 3. one who is radical 4. free radical; also a group of atoms bonded together that is considered an entity in various kinds of reactions or as a subunit of a larger molecule 5. a. a mathematical expression indicating a root by means of a radical sign b. radical sign

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 of the root or roots; fundamental (a radical error). 2 far-reaching; thorough; going to the root (radical change). 3 a advocating thorough reform; holding extreme political views; revolutionary. b (of a measure etc.) advanced by or according to principles of this kind. 4 forming the basis; primary (the radical idea). 5 Math. of the root of a number or quantity. 6 (of surgery etc.) seeking to ensure the removal of all diseased tissue. 7 of the roots of words. 8 Mus. belonging to the root of a chord. 9 Bot. of, or springing direct from, the root. 10 hist. belonging to an extreme section of the Liberal party. 11 US hist. seeking extreme anti-South action at the time of the Civil War. --n. 1 a person holding radical views or belonging to a radical party. 2 Chem. a a free radical. b an element or atom or a group of these normally forming part of a compound and remaining unaltered during the compound's ordinary chemical changes. 3 the root of a word. 4 a fundamental principle; a basis. 5 Math. a a quantity forming or expressed as the root of another. b a radical sign. Phrases and idioms: radical sign indicating the square, cube, etc., root of the number following. Derivatives: radicalism n. radicalize v.tr. & intr. (also -ise). radicalization n. radically adv. radicalness n. Etymology: ME f. LL radicalis f. L radix radicis root

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Radical Rad"i*cal, a. [F., fr. L. radicalis having roots, fr. radix, -icis, a root. See Radix.] 1. Of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root. 2. Hence: Of or pertaining to the root or origin; reaching to the center, to the foundation to the ultimate sources to the principles, or the like: original; fundamental; thorough-going; unsparing; extreme; as, radical evils; radical reform; a radical party. The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed their radical independence. --Burke. 3. (Bot.) (a) Belonging to, or proceeding from, the root of a plant; as, radical tubers or hairs. (b) Proceeding from a rootlike stem, or one which does not rise above the ground; as, the radical leaves of the dandelion and the sidesaddle flower. 4. (Philol.) Relating, or belonging, to the root, or ultimate source of derivation; as, a radical verbal form. 5. (Math.) Of or pertaining to a radix or root; as, a radical quantity; a radical sign. See below. Radical axis of two circles. (Geom.) See under Axis. Radical pitch, the pitch or tone with which the utterance of a syllable begins. --Rush. Radical quantity (Alg.), a quantity to which the radical sign is prefixed; specifically, a quantity which is not a perfect power of the degree indicated by the radical sign; a surd. Radical sign (Math.), the sign [root] (originally the letter r, the initial of radix, root), placed before any quantity, denoting that its root is to be extracted; thus, [root]a, or [root](a + b). To indicate any other than the square root, a corresponding figure is placed over the sign; thus [cuberoot]a, indicates the third or cube root of a. Radical stress (Elocution), force of utterance falling on the initial part of a syllable or sound. Radical vessels (Anat.), minute vessels which originate in the substance of the tissues. Syn: Primitive; original; natural; underived; fundamental; entire. Usage: Radical, Entire. These words are frequently employed as interchangeable in describing some marked alternation in the condition of things. There is, however, an obvious difference between them. A radical cure, reform, etc., is one which goes to the root of the thing in question; and it is entire, in the sense that, by affecting the root, it affects in a appropriate degree the entire body nourished by the root; but it may not be entire in the sense of making a change complete in its nature, as well as in its extent. Hence, we speak of a radical change; a radical improvement; radical differences of opinion; while an entire change, an entire improvement, an entire difference of opinion, might indicate more than was actually intended. A certain change may be both radical and entire, in every sense.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Radical Rad"i*cal, n. 1. (Philol.) (a) A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon. (b) A primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix. The words we at present make use of, and understand only by common agreement, assume a new air and life in the understanding, when you trace them to their radicals, where you find every word strongly stamped with nature; full of energy, meaning, character, painting, and poetry. --Cleland. 2. (Politics) One who advocates radical changes in government or social institutions, especially such changes as are intended to level class inequalities; -- opposed to conservative. In politics they [the Independents] were, to use phrase of their own time. ``Root-and-Branch men,'' or, to use the kindred phrase of our own, Radicals. --Macaulay. 3. (Chem.) (a) A characteristic, essential, and fundamental constituent of any compound; hence, sometimes, an atom. As a general rule, the metallic atoms are basic radicals, while the nonmetallic atoms are acid radicals. --J. P. Cooke. (b) Specifically, a group of two or more atoms, not completely saturated, which are so linked that their union implies certain properties, and are conveniently regarded as playing the part of a single atom; a residue; -- called also a compound radical. Cf. Residue. 4. (Alg.) A radical quantity. See under Radical, a. An indicated root of a perfect power of the degree indicated is not a radical but a rational quantity under a radical form. --Davies & Peck (Math. Dict.) 5. (Anat.) A radical vessel. See under Radical, a.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(radicals) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Radical changes and differences are very important and great in degree. The country needs a period of calm without more surges of radical change... The Football League has announced its proposals for a radical reform of the way football is run in England. = fundamental ADJ: usu ADJ n • radically ...two large groups of people with radically different beliefs and cultures. = fundamentally ADV 2. Radical people believe that there should be great changes in society and try to bring about these changes. ...threats by left-wing radical groups to disrupt the proceedings. ? conservative ADJ: usu ADJ n • A radical is someone who has radical views. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Original, fundamental, organic, constitutional, native, natural, innate, essential, ingrained, deep-seated. 2. Primitive, underived, uncompounded, simple, original. 3. Thorough, entire, complete, perfect, total, extreme, thorough-going, fundamental. II. n. 1. Radical reformer. 2. Primitive letter. 3. Root, radix, etymon, primitive word. 4. (Chem.) Base.

Moby Thesaurus

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