fundamental
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English
Alternative forms
- foundament (when used as a noun)
Etymology
From Late Latin fundamentālis, from Latin fundamentum (“foundation”), from fundō (“to lay the foundation (of something), to found”), from fundus (“bottom”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn.
Pronunciation
Noun
fundamental (plural fundamentals)
- (usually in the plural) A main or major principle, rule, law, etc. which serves as the foundation or basis of a system; an essential part
- one of the fundamentals of linear algebra
- 1722, John Locke, The Works of John Locke ...: With Alphabetical Tables ..., page 572:
- When any one offers me a compleat Catalogue of his Fundamentals, he does not unreaſonably demand me to quit mine for nothing […]
- 1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Happy Warrior Alfred E. Smith, Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC, →OL, page 28:
- Personal leadership is a fundamental of successful government.
- (physics) The lowest frequency of a periodic waveform.
- (music) The lowest partial of a complex tone.
Translations
a leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article
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Adjective
fundamental (comparative more fundamental, superlative most fundamental)
- Related to a foundation, base, or basis; serving as a foundation.
- Essential; extremely important.
- Synonym: elementary
- a fundamental truth; a fundamental axiom; a fundamental element; fundamental principle; fundamental law
- A need for belonging seems fundamental to humans.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
Synonyms
- groundlaying
- See also Thesaurus:bare-bones
Derived terms
- algebraic fundamental group
- first fundamental form
- fundamental analysis
- fundamental constant
- fundamental force
- fundamental frequency
- fundamental group
- fundamental interaction
- fundamentalism
- fundamentalist
- fundamentality
- fundamentally
- fundamentalness
- fundamental niche
- fundamental painting
- fundamental particle
- fundamental right
- fundamental science
- fundamental theorem
- fundamental theorem of arithmetic
- fundamental unit
Related terms
Translations
pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the foundation
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Further reading
- “fundamental”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “fundamental”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Danish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
fundamental
Inflection
| Inflection of fundamental | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
| Indefinte common singular | fundamental | — | —2 |
| Indefinite neuter singular | fundamentalt | — | —2 |
| Plural | fundamentale | — | —2 |
| Definite attributive1 | fundamentale | — | — |
| 1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively. | |||
Synonyms
Derived terms
Galician
Etymology
From Latin fundāmentālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais)
Further reading
- “fundamental” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.
German
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin fundāmentālis. By surface analysis, Fundament + -al.
Pronunciation
Adjective
fundamental (strong nominative masculine singular fundamentaler, comparative fundamentaler, superlative am fundamentalsten)
- fundamental
- Synonym: grundlegend
Declension
Positive forms of fundamental
Comparative forms of fundamental
Superlative forms of fundamental
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “fundamental” in Duden online
- “fundamental” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin fundamentalis.
Adjective
fundamental (masculine and feminine fundamental, neuter fundamentalt, definite singular and plural fundamentale)
Related terms
References
- “fundamental” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “fundamental” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Latin fundamentalis.
Adjective
fundamental (neuter fundamentalt, definite singular and plural fundamentale)
Related terms
References
- “fundamental” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin fundāmentālis.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: fun‧da‧men‧tal
Adjective
fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais)
- fundamental; essential (pertaining to the basic part or notion of something)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “fundamental” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
- “fundamental” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French fondamental, from Latin fundamentalis. Equivalent to fundament + -al.
Pronunciation
Adjective
fundamental m or n (feminine singular fundamentală, masculine plural fundamentali, feminine and neuter plural fundamentale)
Declension
Declension of fundamental
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | fundamental | fundamentală | fundamentali | fundamentale | ||
| definite | fundamentalul | fundamentala | fundamentalii | fundamentalele | |||
| genitive/ dative |
indefinite | fundamental | fundamentale | fundamentali | fundamentale | ||
| definite | fundamentalului | fundamentalei | fundamentalelor | fundamentalilor | |||
Related terms
Related terms
References
- fundamental in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin fundāmentālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
fundamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural fundamentales)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “fundamental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Adjective
fundamental (not comparable)
Declension
| Inflection of fundamental | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | fundamental | — | — |
| Neuter singular | fundamentalt | — | — |
| Plural | fundamentala | — | — |
| Masculine plural3 | fundamentale | — | — |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | fundamentale | — | — |
| All | fundamentala | — | — |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||