Wiktionary

radical

English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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radical (comparative more radical, superlative most radical)

  1. Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.
    His beliefs are radical.
    We must be resolute in our fight against radical leftism!
  2. (botany, not comparable) Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
  3. Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
    Synonym: fundamental
    Antonyms: ignorable, trivial
  4. Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.
    The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed.
    • 2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 January 2012, page 70:
      Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.
  5. (lexicography, not comparable) Of or pertaining to the root of a word.
  6. (phonology, phonetics, not comparable, of a sound) Produced using the root of the tongue.
    Coordinate terms: coronal, dorsal, labial, laryngeal
  7. (chemistry, not comparable) Involving free radicals.
  8. (mathematics) Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
    a radical quantity; a radical sign
  9. (slang, 1980s & 1990s) Excellent; awesome.
    That was a radical jump!

Synonyms

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  • (linguistics, in reference to words): primitive

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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radical (plural radicals)

  1. (historical, 19th-century Britain, politics) A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).
  2. (historical, early 20th-century France) 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. (arithmetic) A root (of a number or quantity).
  6. (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.
    • 2022, R. F. Kuang, Babel, HarperVoyager, page 9:
      The boy recognised the Chinese characters, though the calligraphy looked a bit strange, as if drawn by someone who had seen them and copied them out radical by radical without knowing what they meant.
  7. (linguistics) In Celtic languages, the basic, underlying form of an initial consonant which can be further mutated under the Celtic initial consonant mutations.
  8. (linguistics) In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
  9. (chemistry) A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
  10. (organic chemistry) A free radical.
  11. (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.
  12. (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".
  13. (algebra, ring theory, of a module) The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.
  14. (number theory) The product of the distinct prime factors of a given positive integer.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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radical m or f (masculine and feminine plural radicals)

  1. radical

Derived terms

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Noun

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radical m or f by sense (plural radicals)

  1. radical

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Late Latin rādīcālis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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radical (feminine radicale, masculine plural radicaux, feminine plural radicales)

  1. radical
    L’idéologie islamiste radicale de Boko Haram a provoqué le déplacement de plus de deux millions de personnes dans le nord du Nigeria.
    The radical Islamist ideology of Boko Haram caused more than two million persons to be displaced in northern Nigeria.

Noun

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radical m (plural radicaux)

  1. (linguistics, grammar) radical, root

Further reading

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Galician

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /radiˈkal/ [ra.ð̞iˈkɑɫ]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: ra‧di‧cal

Noun

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radical m (plural radicais)

  1. radical (in various senses)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ʁɐ.diˈkal/ [ʁɐ.ðiˈkaɫ]
    • (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ʁɐ.diˈka.li/ [ʁɐ.ðiˈka.li]

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
  • Hyphenation: ra‧di‧cal

Noun

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radical m (plural radicais)

  1. (linguistic morphology) stem (main part of a word)
  2. (linguistic) radicial (portion of a character)

Noun

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radical m or f by sense (plural radicais)

  1. radical (person holding unorthodox views)
    Synonym: extremista

Adjective

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radical m or f (plural radicais)

  1. radical (favouring fundamental change)
  2. drastic; extreme
  3. (slang) excellent; awesome; thrilling
  4. (sports) extreme (dangerous)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Romanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French radical or German Radikal.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ra.diˈkal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: ra‧di‧cal

Adjective

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radical m or n (feminine singular radicală, masculine plural radicali, feminine and neuter plural radicale)

  1. radical

Declension

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Declension of radical
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite radical radicală radicali radicale
definite radicalul radicala radicalii radicalele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite radical radicale radicali radicale
definite radicalului radicalei radicalilor radicalelor
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Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin rādīcālis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /radiˈkal/ [ra.ð̞iˈkal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: ra‧di‧cal

Adjective

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radical m or f (masculine and feminine plural radicales)

  1. radical, seismic

Derived terms

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Noun

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radical m (plural radicales)

  1. radical

Derived terms

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Further reading

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