radical

[Rad·i*cal]

If something is considered extremist or very different from anything that has come before it, call it radical.

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Of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root.

Noun
(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem"

Noun
a sign placed in front of an expression to denote that a root is to be extracted

Noun
a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram

Noun
a person who has radical ideas or opinions

Noun
(chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule

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Noun
an atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule than has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule; "in the body free radicals are high-energy part

Adjective
especially of leaves; located at the base of a plant or stem; especially arising directly from the root or rootstock or a root-like stem; "basal placentation"; "radical leaves"

Adjective S.
(used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm; "extremist political views"; "radical opinions on education"; "an ultra conservative"

Adjective S.
markedly new or introducing radical change; "a revolutionary discovery"; "radical political views"

Adjective S.
arising from or going to the root; "a radical flaw in the plan"

Adjective
of or relating to or constituting a linguistic root; "a radical verb form"

a.
Of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root.

a.
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.

a.
Belonging to, or proceeding from, the root of a plant; as, radical tubers or hairs.

a.
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.

a.
Relating, or belonging, to the root, or ultimate source of derivation; as, a radical verbal form.

a.
Of or pertaining to a radix or root; as, a radical quantity; a radical sign. See below.

n.
A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon.

n.
A primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix.

n.
One who advocates radical changes in government or social institutions, especially such changes as are intended to level class inequalities; -- opposed to conservative.

n.
A characteristic, essential, and fundamental constituent of any compound; hence, sometimes, an atom.

n.
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.

n.
A radical quantity. See under Radical, a.

a.
A radical vessel. See under Radical, a.

Radical

Rad"i*cal , a. [F., fr. L. radicalis having roots, fr. radix, -icis, a root. See Radix.] 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. Rush. -- 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; thus, &root;a, or &root;(a + b). To indicate any other than the square root, a corresponding figure is placed over the sign; thus &cuberoot;a, indicates the third or cube root of a. -- 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. Syn. -- Primitive; original; natural; underived; fundamental; entire. -- Radical, Entire. These words are frequently employed as interchangeable in describing some marked alternation 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 a 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.

Radical

Rad"i*cal , 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 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.

Of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root.

A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon.

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Usage Examples

For me, 'revolution' simply means radical change.

I first became a vegetarian when I was nine, in response to an argument made by a radical babysitter. My great change - which lasted a couple of weeks - was based on the very simple instinct that it's wrong to kill animals for food.

An important consequence of freeing oneself from the fear of death is a radical opening to spirituality of a universal and non-denominational type.

Any critic is entitled to wrong judgments, of course. But certain lapses of judgment indicate the radical failure of an entire sensibility.

And Jesus, the heart of the Christian faith is the wildest, most radical guy you'd ever come across.

Given my last position, that I was the first U.S attorney post 9/11 in New Jersey, I understand acutely the pain and sorrow and upset of the family members who lost loved ones that day at the hands of radical Muslim extremists. And their sensitivities and concerns have to be taken into account.

I never dared to be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.

I remain optimistic. What we've seen in Europe and the rest of the world is that freedom has a much stronger attraction than radical fundamentalism.

If Obama wanted to make radical changes to America's health long-term, all he has to do is treble the price of sugar and salt.

Misspelled Form

radical, eradical, 4radical, 5radical, tradical, fradical, eadical, 4adical, 5adical, tadical, fadical, readical, r4adical, r5adical, rtadical, rfadical, rqadical, rwadical, rsadical, rzadical, rqdical, rwdical, rsdical, rzdical, raqdical, rawdical, rasdical, razdical, rasdical, raedical, rafdical, raxdical, racdical, rasical, raeical, rafical, raxical, racical, radsical, radeical, radfical, radxical, radcical, raduical, rad8ical, rad9ical, radoical, radjical, radkical, raducal, rad8cal, rad9cal, radocal, radjcal, radkcal, radiucal, radi8cal, radi9cal, radiocal, radijcal, radikcal, radixcal, radidcal, radifcal, radivcal, radi cal, radixal, radidal, radifal, radival, radi al, radicxal, radicdal, radicfal, radicval, radic al, radicqal, radicwal, radicsal, radiczal, radicql, radicwl, radicsl, radiczl, radicaql, radicawl, radicasl, radicazl, radicakl, radicaol, radicapl, radica:l, radicak, radicao, radicap, radica:, radicalk, radicalo, radicalp, radical:.

Other Usage Examples

A radical inner transformation and rise to a new level of consciousness might be the only real hope we have in the current global crisis brought on by the dominance of the Western mechanistic paradigm.

I think a major act of leadership right now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and processes so people can actually learn together, using our experiences.

And initially, a lot of companies avoid trying to make a really radical new kind of title for a new system, because that would involve learning a new machine and learning how to make the new title at the same time.

If one is going to change the definition of marriage to be, quote, 'same sex,' then there is absolutely no valid argument constitutionally or rhetorically you can make against multiple people getting married. These are radical social changes.

Although some people think I am a romantic novelist I have always thought of myself as a rather gritty radical historian.

Every genuine boy is a rebel and an anarch. If he were allowed to develop according to his own instincts, his own inclinations, society would undergo such a radical transformation as to make the adult revolutionary cower and cringe.

As far as a truly radical conscience, you have to take it as part of a larger thing, that it was sort of historical inevitability that with the coming of a leaguer society people would start to use drugs a lot more then they had before.

I don't think it's an incredibly radical premise to try and have sympathy for someone who has made a mistake.

And what's interesting about the hybrids taking off is you've now introduced electric motors to the automobile industry. It's the first radical change in automobile technology in 100 years.