rudiment

American  

[roo-duh-muhnt] / ˈru də mənt /

noun

1. Usually rudiments.

   1. the elements or first principles of a subject.

      the rudiments of grammar.

   2. a mere beginning, first slight appearance, or undeveloped or imperfect form of something.

      the rudiments of a plan.

2. Biology. an organ or part incompletely developed in size or structure, as one in an embryonic stage, one arrested in growth, or one with no functional activity, as a vestige.

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rudiment British  

/ ˈruːdɪmənt /

noun

1. (often plural) the first principles or elementary stages of a subject

2. (often plural) a partially developed version of something

3. biology an organ or part in its earliest recognizable form, esp one in an embryonic or vestigial state

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Etymology

Origin of rudiment

1540–50; < Latin rudīmentum early training, first experience, initial stage, equivalent to rudi ( s ) unformed, rough ( see rude) + -mentum -ment ( -ī- for -i- after verbal derivatives)

Explanation

Rudiment, usually used in the plural, means the basics. If you know the alphabet, you have the rudiments of reading at your disposal. You might learn the rudiments of cooking from your mother, but you won't become an expert until you spend time in your own kitchen. In biology, the word rudiment means an undeveloped part of an organ or limb, like you would find in an embryo or fetus.

Example Sentences

Rudiment of the sterile stamen a scale on the upper lip.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Rudiment, an imperfectly developed and functionally useless organ.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

Rudiment, used here as a translation for the word anlage, which means the first plotting-out or beginning of a living structure.

From The Biological Problem of To-day Preformation Or Epigenesis? The Basis of a Theory of Organic Development by Hertwig, Oscar

Rudiment of second flower wanting; glumes and palet rather chartaceous, compressed-keeled; flowering glume 1-nerved, entirely awnless; palet strongly 2-keeled; panicle at length open and loose.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

B. Rudiment further advanced, showing the foundations of the head, tail, and vertebral column.

From Lectures and Essays by Huxley, Thomas Henry