radical

Meaning

Adj

1. Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.
2. (not-comparable) Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
3. Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
4. Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.
5. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to the root of a word.
6. (not-comparable) Produced using the root of the tongue.
7. (not-comparable) Involving free radicals.
8. Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
9. (slang) Excellent; awesome.

Noun

1. (historical) A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).
2. (historical) A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a republican constitution, and secular politics.
3. A person with radical opinions.
4. A root (of a number or quantity).
5. In logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character (if any) that provides an indication of its meaning, as opposed to phonetic.
6. In Celtic languages, the basic, underlying form of an initial consonant which can be further mutated under the Celtic initial consonant mutations.
7. In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
8. A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
9. A free radical.
10. 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.
11. Given a ring R, an ideal containing elements of R that share a property considered, in some sense, "not good".
12. The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.
13. The product of the distinct prime factors of a given positive integer.

Opposite of

ignorable, trivial

Synonyms

extreme

root

drastic

revolutionary

base

stem

excessive

extremist

acute

original

fundamental

group

theme

sharp

root word

basal

jacobin

thorough

free radical

ultra

primordial

chemical group

serious

severe

far-reaching

impious

indigenous

innermost

irrational

just

leftist

liberal

native

negative

nonconformist

only

pointed

powerful

precipitous

principle

progressive

rad

radicals

radical sign

radix

rearmost

recusant

revisionist

revolutionist

right

Translations

radical

radical

radical

radical

radikal

radicale

Radikal

radicaal

raíz

ριζοσπαστικός

ριζικός

ριζοσπάστης

grondig

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹædɪkəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: radical

In summary

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