Definitions for Radical
ˈræd ɪ kəlrad·i·cal

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.7 / 3 votes

1. group, radical, chemical groupnoun

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

2. free radical, radicalnoun

   an atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule that has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule

   "in the body free radicals are high-energy particles that ricochet wildly and damage cells"

3. radicalnoun

   a person who has radical ideas or opinions

4. radicalnoun

   (mathematics) a quantity expressed as the root of another quantity

5. radicalnoun

   a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram

6. root, root word, base, stem, theme, radicaladjective

   (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed

   "thematic vowels are part of the stem"

7. extremist, radical, ultraadjective

   (used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm

   "extremist political views"; "radical opinions on education"; "an ultra conservative"

8. revolutionary, radicaladjective

   markedly new or introducing radical change

   "a revolutionary discovery"; "radical political views"

9. radicaladjective

   arising from or going to the root or source

   "a radical flaw in the plan"

10. radicaladjective

    of or relating to or constituting a linguistic root

    "a radical verb form"

11. radical, basaladjective

    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"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. radicalnoun

   A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).

2. radicalnoun

   A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a republican constitution, and secular politics.

3. radicalnoun

   A person with radical opinions.

4. radicalnoun

   A root (of a number or quantity).

5. radicalnoun

   In logographic writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character (if any) that provides an indication of its meaning, as opposed to phonetic.

6. radicalnoun

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

7. radicalnoun

   A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.

8. radicalnoun

   A free radical.

9. radicaladjective

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

   His beliefs are radical.

10. radicaladjective

    Of or pertaining to a root .

11. radicaladjective

    Of or pertaining to the intrinsic nature of something.

12. radicaladjective

    Thoroughgoing.

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

13. radicaladjective

    Of or pertaining to the root of a word.

14. radicaladjective

    Involving free radicals

15. radicaladjective

    Excellent.

    That was a radical jump!

16. Etymology: From radical, from radicalis, from radix; see radix.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. RADICALadjective

   Etymology: radical, Fr. from radix, Latin.

   1. Primitive; original.

   The differences, which are secondary and proceed from these radical differences, are, plants are all figurate and determinate, which inanimate bodies are not. Francis Bacon.

   Such a radical truth, that God is, springing up together with the essence of the soul, and previous to all other thoughts, is not pretended to by religion. Richard Bentley.

   2. Implanted by nature.

   The emission of the loose and adventitious moisture doth betray the radical moisture, and carrieth it for company. Francis Bacon.

   If the radical moisture of gold were separated, it might be contrived to burn without being consumed. John Wilkins.

   The sun beams render the humours hot, and dry up the radical moisture. Arbuthnot.

   3. Serving to origination.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. radical

   In a general context, "radical" can have different meanings depending on the subject it is related to: 1. In general terms, it refers to something that advocates for complete social or political reform, representing extreme views, principles or ways of behaving. 2. In mathematics, a radical refers to a symbol that represents the root of a number, typically √. 3. In chemistry, it is used to describe an atom, molecule or ion that possesses unpaired valence electrons. 4. In linguistics, a radical is the part of a word that cannot be reduced any further into smaller components. 5. In botany, the term is used to describe the lower part of a plant embryo— the embryonic root. 6. In literature, a radical is an element of a word or language that inherently defines the word's main semantic characteristics. Each specific field of study may have its own specific definition of "radical", usually implying a central, fundamental or essential component, a drastic difference or deviation from tradition or accepted norms, or something relating to roots or origins.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Radicaladjective

   of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root

2. Radicaladjective

   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

3. Radicaladjective

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

4. Radicaladjective

   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

5. Radicaladjective

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

6. Radicaladjective

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

7. Radicalnoun

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

8. Radicalnoun

   a primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix

9. Radicalnoun

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

10. Radicalnoun

    a characteristic, essential, and fundamental constituent of any compound; hence, sometimes, an atom

11. Radicalnoun

    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

12. Radicalnoun

    a radical quantity. See under Radical, a

13. Radicaladjective

    a radical vessel. See under Radical, a

WikidataRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. Radical

   In chemistry, a radical is an atom, molecule, or ion that has unpaired valence electrons or an open electron shell, and therefore may be seen as having one or more "dangling" covalent bonds. With some exceptions, these "dangling" bonds make free radicals highly chemically reactive towards other substances, or even towards themselves: their molecules will often spontaneously dimerize or polymerize if they come in contact with each other. Most radicals are reasonably stable only at very low concentrations in inert media or in vacuum. A notable example of free radical is the hydroxyl radical, a molecule that is one hydrogen atom short of a water molecule and thus has one bond "dangling" from the oxygen. Two other examples are the carbene molecule, which has two dangling bonds; and the superoxide anion, the oxygen molecule O2 with one extra electron, which has one dangling bond. On the other hand, the hydroxyl anion, the oxide anion and the carbenium cation are not radicals, since the bonds that may appear to be dangling are in fact resolved by the addition or removal of electrons. Free radicals may be created in a number of ways, including synthesis with very dilute or rarefied reagents, reactions at very low temperatures, or breakup of larger molecules. The latter can be affected by any process that puts enough energy into the parent molecule, such as ionizing radiation, heat, electrical discharges, electrolysis, and chemical reactions. Indeed, radicals are intermediate stages in many chemical reactions.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Radical

   rad′i-kal, adj. pertaining to the root or origin: original: fundamental: intrinsic: primitive: implanted by nature: not derived: serving to originate: (bot.) proceeding immediately from the root: (politics) ultra-liberal, democratic.—n. a root: a primitive word or letter: one who advocates radical reform, an uncompromising democratic politician: (chem.) the base of a compound.—v.t. Rad′icalise, to make radical.—v.i. to become radical, adopt radical political principles.—n. Rad′icalism, the principles or spirit of a radical or democrat.—adv. Rad′ically.—n. Rad′icalness. [Radix.]

Matched Categories

1. • Atom
   • Botany
   • Character
   • Chemistry
   • Linguistics
   • Mathematics
   • Measure
   • Person
   • Unit

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Radical' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2725

2. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Radical' in Adjectives Frequency: #369

Anagrams for Radical »

1. aldaric

2. cardial

How to pronounce Radical?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Radical in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Radical in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Radical in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of Radical in a Sentence

1. Read MoreHe:

   Everything we've achieved is now in danger, this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it.

2. Feng Wei:

   It will be normal that several radical young people will be returned as lawmakers (in September), politics is the process of putting theories into practice. Young people participating in politics, including radicals, will gradually mature.

3. Scott Perry:

   I decline this entity’s request and will continue to fight the failures of the radical Left who desperately seek distraction from their abject failures of crushing inflation, a humiliating surrender in Afghanistan, and the horrendous crisis they created at our border.

4. John Green:

   I view him as a radical and a racist and I don't want to be affiliated with that, but if you say what you mean, a lot of guys see that in Trump and they respect that. He doesn't dance around the issues, he takes them head on. There are a fair amount of our members who do support Donald Trump.

5. Lance Gooden:

   President Biden is beholden to a cabal of radical environmental groups who are preventing his administration from unleashing America’s full energy potential, we must investigate whether these groups are undermining our national security because they are funded or supported by the Russian government or Russian controlled entities.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Radical
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Radical
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Radical
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Radical
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Radical
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=Radical