radical

From French radical, from Late Latin radicalis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”), from Latin radix (“root”); see radix.

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

radical (comparative more radical, superlative most radical)

1. Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.

   His beliefs are radical.

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.
   • 2012 January 1, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, 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.

   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.

   a radical quantity; a radical sign

9. (slang, 1980s & 1990s) Excellent; awesome.

   That was a radical jump!

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

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

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

• radicalness
• radicality
• radicalize
• radically
• radical empiricism
• radical feminism
• radical left
• radical pluralism
• radical reform
• radical right
• radical Islam
• radical vinegar

• root
• radix

radical (plural radicals)

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 ${\displaystyle {\sqrt {I}}}$ , 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.
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.

• nilradical

• 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 on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 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

• aldaric, cardial

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

radical (masculine and feminine plural radicals)

1. radical

radical m or f (plural radicals)

1. radical

Borrowed from Late Latin rādīcālis.

• IPA^(key): /ʁa.di.kal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Homophones: radicale, radicales

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

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

1. radical

   L'idéologie islamiste radicale a causé vingt millions de morts dans le nord du Nigéria.

   Radical Islamist ideology caused twenty million deaths in northern Nigeria.

radical m (plural radicaux)

1. (linguistics, grammar) radical, root

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

radical m (plural radicais)

1. radical (in various senses)

• “radical” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

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

radical m (plural radicais)

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

• raiz

radical m, f (plural radicais)

1. radical (person holding unorthodox views)

• extremista

radical m or f (plural radicais, comparable)

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

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

1. radical

• radicalist
• radicaliza

• IPA^(key): /radiˈkal/, [raðiˈkal]
• Hyphenation: ra‧di‧cal

radical (plural radicales)

1. radical

radical m (plural radicales)

1. radical