radical
/ˈɹædɪkəl/
Dictionary
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.
- A root (of a number or quantity).
- 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.
- In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
- A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
- A free radical.
- (commutative algebra, of an ideal) Given an ideal I in a commutative ring R, another ideal, denoted Rad(I) or \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.
- (of a ring) Given a ring R, an ideal containing elements of R that share a property considered, in some sense, "not good".
- (of a module) The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.
- 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.
"His beliefs are radical."
- Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
- Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
- Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.
"The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed."
- Of or pertaining to the root of a word.
- (of a sound) Produced using the root of the tongue.
- Involving free radicals.
- Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
"a radical quantity; a radical sign"
- (1980s & 1990s) Excellent; awesome.
"That was a radical jump!"
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