radicaladj/ˈɹædɪkəl/

• 1

  biologybotanynatural-sciencesOf or pertaining to the root of a plant.

• 2

  human-scienceslexicographylinguisticsOf or pertaining to the root of a word.

• 3

  human-scienceslinguisticsphoneticsProduced using the root of the tongue.

• 4

  mathematicssciencesRelating to a radix or mathematical root.

  • a radical quantity; a radical sign
• 5

  Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.

  • The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed their radical independence.
• 6

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

  • His beliefs are radical.
• 7

  Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.

  • The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed.
  • 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.
• 8

  chemistrynatural-sciencesphysical-sciencesInvolving free radicals.

radicalnoun/ˈɹædɪkəl/

• 1

  arithmeticA root (of a number or quantity).

• 2

  human-scienceslinguisticssciencesIn logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character used to index it. Often, but not always, this is also the portion indicating meaning; compare the following sense.

• 3

  human-scienceslinguisticssciencesIn logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character used to index it. Often, but not always, this is also the portion indicating meaning; compare the following sense.

  • The boy recognised the Chinese characters, though the calligraphy looked a bit strange, as if drawn by someone who had seen them and copied them out radical by radical without knowing what they meant.
• 4

  human-scienceslinguisticssciencesIn Celtic languages, the basic, underlying form of an initial consonant which can be further mutated under the Celtic initial consonant mutations.

• 5

  human-scienceslinguisticssciencesIn Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.

• 6

  chemistrynatural-sciencesphysical-sciencesA group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.

• 7

  chemistrynatural-sciencesorganic-chemistryA free radical.

• 8

  algebramathematicssciencesGiven an ideal I in a commutative ring R, another ideal, denoted Rad(I) or √, 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.