Radical

Rad"i*cal

(rd"*kl), 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.
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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.
Cleland.
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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.
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In politics they [the Independents] were, to use the phrase of their own time, "Root-and-Branch men," or, to use the kindred phrase of our own, Radicals.
Macaulay.
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3. (Chem.) (a) A characteristic, essential, and fundamental constituent of any compound; hence, sometimes, an atom.
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As a general rule, the metallic atoms are basic radicals, while the nonmetallic atoms are acid radicals.
J. P. Cooke.
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(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.
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4. (Alg.) A radical quantity. See under Radical, a.
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An indicated root of a perfect power of the degree indicated is not a radical but a rational quantity under a radical form.
Davies & Peck (Math. Dict.)
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5. (Anat.) A radical vessel. See under Radical, a.
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Wed 22nd May 2019