radical
IPA: rˈædʌkʌɫ
noun
- (historical, 19th-century Britain) A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).
- (historical, early 20th-century France) A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a republican constitution, and secular politics.
- A person with radical opinions.
- (arithmetic) A root (of a number or quantity).
- (linguistics) 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.
- (linguistics) In Celtic languages, refers to the basic, underlying form of an initial consonant which can be further mutated under the Celtic initial consonant mutations.
- (linguistics) In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
- (chemistry) A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
- (organic chemistry) A free radical.
- (algebra, commutative algebra, ring theory, of an ideal) 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.
- (algebra, ring theory, of a ring) Given a ring R, an ideal containing elements of R that share a property considered, in some sense, "not good".
- (algebra, ring theory, of a module) The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.
- (number theory) The product of the distinct prime factors of a given positive integer.
adjective
- Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.
- (botany, not comparable) Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
- Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
- Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.
- (lexicography, not comparable) Of or pertaining to the root of a word.
- (phonology, phonetics, not comparable, of a sound) Produced using the root of the tongue.
- (chemistry, not comparable) Involving free radicals.
- (mathematics) Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
- (slang, 1980s & 1990s) Excellent; awesome.
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Examples of "radical" in Sentences
- Radically, human beings are good.
- The radical center is the point of it.
- The radical difference is the minus sign.
- Rationalizing radicals in the denominator.
- There are some radical changes in the teams.
- It radically changes the point of the article.
- It was the rapprochement with the radical party.
- The Mormon view of the Fall is radically different.
- The ontology of the new realism is extremely radical.
- It was a radical extention of the liberalist doctrine.
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