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Radical   /rˈædəkəl/  /rˈædɪkəl/   Listen
adjective
Radical  adj.  
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."
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.
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. To indicate any other than the square root, a corresponding figure is placed over the sign.
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.
Synonyms: Primitive; original; natural; underived; fundamental; entire. Radical, Entire. These words are frequently employed as interchangeable in describing some marked alteration 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 an 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.


noun
Radical  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."
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 the phrase of their own time, "Root-and-Branch men," or, to use the kindred phrase of our own, Radicals."
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."
(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."
5.
(Anat.) A radical vessel. See under Radical, a.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Radical" Quotes from Famous Books



... and Cornelia Pallanton had married on a new, radical basis. They had first met in the house of an intellectual woman, the wife of a university professor, where clever young persons were drawn in and taught to read Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Ibsen and George Moore, and to engage gracefully in perilous topics. They had been rather conscious ...
— Together • Robert Herrick (1868-1938)
... had recently established. It at once obtained a large circulation, inasmuch as every publican became a subscriber. It exists to the present day, and is known by the slang sobriquet of the 'Tub,' an appellation suggested by its clientele. Its opinions are radical, and it is conducted not without a fair share of ability, but, occasionally venturing out of its depth, it has more than once been most successfully and amusingly hoaxed. One of these cases was when a correspondent ...
— Continental Monthly , Vol. 6, No. 1, July, 1864 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy. • Various
... I found that a strike prevailed on the Lakes. I was held in doubt whether I ought to sail, for I would have to do so as strike-breaker, which was against my radical code ... but, then, I had come over-land all the way from Laurel, to voyage the Great Lakes for the poetry to be found there ... and I must put my muse ...
— Tramping on Life - An Autobiographical Narrative • Harry Kemp
... attained—a "special" for London. His "descriptive articles" were more political than mine, and he was obliged to be violently Tory. His creed, however, was such a pure piece of professionalism, that though I was Radical, and was expected to be so, we never jarred, and often, as we wandered homewards, we exchanged notes, and were mutually useful, his observations appearing in my paper, and mine in his, with proper modifications. ...
— Mark Rutherford's Deliverance • Mark Rutherford
... acted with Mr Ben Tillett as the chief leader and organizer of the London dock strike. He entered the House of Commons as member for Battersea in 1892, and was re-elected in 1895, 1900 and 1906. In parliament he became well known as an independent Radical, and he was included in the Liberal cabinet by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in December 1905 as president of the Local Government Board. During the next two years, though much out of favour with his former socialist allies, he earned ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 - "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" • Various


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