Fundamental \Fun"da*men`tal\, n.
A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which
serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part, as, the
fundamentals of the Christian faith.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Fundamental \Fun`da*men"tal\, a. [Cf. F. fondamental.]
Pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the
foundation. Hence: Essential, as an element, principle, or
law; important; original; elementary; as, a fundamental
truth; a fundamental axiom.
[1913 Webster]
The fundamental reasons of this war. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Some fundamental antithesis in nature. --Whewell.
[1913 Webster]
Fundamental bass (Mus.), the root note of a chord; a bass
formed of the roots or fundamental tones of the chords.
Fundamental chord (Mus.), a chord, the lowest tone of which
is its root.
Fundamental colors, red, green, and violet-blue. See
Primary colors, under Color.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
fundamental
adj 1: serving as an essential component; "a cardinal rule"; "the
central cause of the problem"; "an example that was
fundamental to the argument"; "computers are
fundamental to modern industrial structure" [syn: cardinal,
central, key, primal]
2: being or involving basic facts or principles; "the
fundamental laws of the universe"; "a fundamental
incompatibility between them"; "these rudimentary truths";
"underlying principles" [syn: rudimentary, underlying]
3: far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect especially on the
nature of something; "the fundamental revolution in human
values that has occurred"; "the book underwent fundamental
changes"; "committed the fundamental error of confusing
spending with extravagance"; "profound social changes"
[syn: profound]
n : the lowest tone of a harmonic series [syn: fundamental
frequency, first harmonic]
WordNet (r) 2.0
239 Moby Thesaurus words for "fundamental":
AF, ab ovo, abecedarian, aboriginal, antenatal, audio frequency,
austere, autochthonous, axiom, bare, basal, base, basement, basic,
basilar, basis, bearing wall, bed, bedding, bedrock, beginning,
bench mark, bottom, budding, cardinal, cardinal point, center,
central, chaste, chief thing, climax, component, constituent,
constitutional, constitutive, core, cornerstone, creative, crisis,
critical, critical point, crucial, crux, dominant, element,
elemental, elementary, elements, elixir, embryonic, essence,
essential, essential matter, factor, fetal, first, floor, flooring,
flower, focal, focus, fond, footing, formative, foundation,
foundational, frequency, fundament, fundamental tone, generative,
genetic, germinal, gestatory, gist, grammar, gravamen, great point,
ground, grounds, groundwork, gut, hardpan, harmonic, heart,
high point, homely, homespun, homogeneous, hypostasis, important,
important thing, in embryo, in its infancy, in ovo, in the bud,
inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular,
indispensable, indivisible, infant, infantile, inherent, initial,
initiative, initiatory, inner essence, intonation, intrinsic,
introductory, inventive, irreducible, issue, kernel, keystone,
landmark, law, life-and-death, life-or-death, main, main point,
main thing, marrow, material, material point, meat, mere,
milestone, monolithic, monotone, monotony, nascent, natal,
necessary, needful, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts, of a piece,
of the essence, of vital importance, organic, original, overtone,
paramount, part and parcel, partial, partial tone, parturient,
pavement, pitch, pith, pivot, plain, postnatal, postulate,
pregnant, prenatal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive,
primogenial, primordial, principal, principium, principle,
principles, pristine, procreative, protogenic, pure,
pure and simple, quid, quiddity, quintessence, quintessential,
radical, real issue, requisite, riprap, rock bottom, rudiment,
rudimental, rudimentary, rudiments, rule, salient point, sap, seat,
seminal, severe, sill, simon-pure, simple, sine qua non, single,
solid ground, solid rock, soul, spare, spirit, stark, stereobate,
stuff, stylobate, substance, substantial, substantive,
substantive point, substratum, substruction, substructure,
terra firma, the bottom line, the nitty-gritty, the point, theorem,
tone, tonelessness, turning point, unadorned, uncluttered,
underbuilding, undercarriage, undergirding, underlying,
underpinning, understruction, understructure, undifferenced,
undifferentiated, uniform, ur, vital
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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