synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of radical in English

## English

### Pronunciation

• enPR: rădʹĭk-əl, IPA(key): /ˈɹædɪkəl/

1. Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.
2. (botany, not comparable) Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
3. Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
• Burke
The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed their radical independence.
4. Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.
The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed.
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.
7. (chemistry, not comparable) Involving free radicals.
8. (mathematics) Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
9. (slang, 1980s & 1990s) Excellent; awesome.

#### Synonyms

• (pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something): fundamental
• (linguistics, in reference to words): primitive

#### Antonyms

• (pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something): ignorable, trivial
• (linguistics, in reference to words): derivative, derived

#### Coordinate terms

• (produced with the root of the tongue): labial, coronal, dorsal, laryngeal

• root

### Noun

1. (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).
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).
5. (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.
6. (linguistics) In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
7. (chemistry) A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
8. (organic chemistry) A free radical.
9. (algebra, commutative algebra, ring theory, of an ideal) Given an ideal I in a commutative ring R, another ideal, denoted Rad(I) or ${displaystyle {sqrt }}$, such that an element xR is in Rad(I) if, for some positive integer n, xnI; equivalently, the intersection of all prime ideals containing I.
10. (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".
11. (algebra, ring theory, of a module) The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.
12. (number theory) The product of the distinct prime factors of a given positive integer.

### References

• radical in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• radical in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "radical" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 251.

• Radical of an ideal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Radical of a ring on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Radical of a module on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Radical of an integer on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Radical of an ideal on Encyclopedia of Mathematics
• Ideal Radical on Wolfram MathWorld

### Anagrams

• aldaric, cardial

## Catalan

### Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA(key): /rə.diˈkal/
• (Valencian) IPA(key): /ra.diˈkal/

## French

### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin rādīcālis.

### Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ʁa.di.kal/
• Rhymes: -al

### Noun

• “radical” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

## Portuguese

### Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA(key): /ʁɐðiˈkaɫ/
• Hyphenation: ra‧di‧cal

### Noun

1. (linguistic morphology) root (primary lexical unit of a word)

• raiz

### Noun

1. radical (person holding unorthodox views)

#### Synonyms

• extremista

2. drastic; extreme
3. (Brazil, slang) excellent; awesome; thrilling
4. (sports) extreme (dangerous)

## Spanish

### Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ra‧di‧cal

### Noun

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