fundamental

[fuhn-duh-men-tl]

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adjective

serving as, or being an essential part of, a foundation or basis; basic; underlying: fundamental principles; the fundamental structure.

of, relating to, or affecting the foundation or basis: a fundamental revision.

being an original or primary source: a fundamental idea.

Music. (of a chord) having its root as its lowest note.

noun

a basic principle, rule, law, or the like, that serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part: to master the fundamentals of a trade.

Also called fundamental note, fundamental tone. Music.

the root of a chord.
the generator of a series of harmonics.

Physics. the component of lowest frequency in a composite wave.

Origin of fundamental

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin fundāmentālis of, belonging to a foundation. See fundament, -al¹

Related formsfun·da·men·tal·i·ty, fun·da·men·tal·ness, nounfun·da·men·tal·ly, adverbnon·fun·da·men·tal, adjective, nounnon·fun·da·men·tal·ly, adverbun·fun·da·men·tal, adjectiveun·fun·da·men·tal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for fundamental

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fundamental ON THESAURUS.COM

1. indispensable, primary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fundamentally

essentially, centrally, radically

Examples from the Web for fundamentally

Contemporary Examples of fundamentally

“It fundamentally changes the architecture of forest canopies,” says Watson.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants
Helen Thompson
December 21, 2014
Complementarity also means, of course, than men and women are fundamentally different.
Is Pope Francis Backpedaling on Gays?
Jay Michaelson
November 19, 2014
The two-state solution, if implemented, fundamentally discredits the whole concept of a conspiracy against Islam.
Why’s Al Qaeda So Strong? Washington Has (Literally) No idea
Bruce Riedel
November 9, 2014
And these initiatives represent an effort to fundamentally rethink our landscape.
Parks and Regeneration
The Daily Beast
November 3, 2014
But surely expanding reproductive choice is fundamentally feminist.
Apple and Facebook Are Right to Offer Egg-Freezing
Lizzie Crocker
October 16, 2014

Historical Examples of fundamentally

I still remain the sinner, fundamentally and potentially at every step the sinner.
The Prodigal Returns
Lilian Staveley
Fundamentally, all education is proceeding on a false principle.
The Curse of Education
Harold E. Gorst
And yet he remained simple, unaffected, and fundamentally kind.
A Great Man
Arnold Bennett
No, it was not bitterness, precisely, for it was fundamentally as impersonal as criticism can be.
The Best Short Stories of 1920
Various
He was fundamentally an Egyptian god, and the most popular of the deities of the Nile.
The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism
Franz Cumont

British Dictionary definitions for fundamentally

fundamentally

adverb

in a way that affects the basis or essentials; utterlythe terms of engagement have been fundamentally altered

(sentence modifier) in essence; at heartfundamentally, we want our lives to be safe

fundamental

adjective

of, involving, or comprising a foundation; basic

of, involving, or comprising a source; primary

music denoting or relating to the principal or lowest note of a harmonic series

of or concerned with the component of lowest frequency in a complex vibration

noun

a principle, law, etc, that serves as the basis of an idea or system

the principal or lowest note of a harmonic series
the bass note of a chord in root position

Also called: fundamental frequency, first harmonic physics

the component of lowest frequency in a complex vibration
the frequency of this component

Derived Formsfundamentality or fundamentalness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fundamentally

adv.

c.1600, from fundamental + -ly (2).

fundamental

adj.

mid-15c., "primary, original, pertaining to a foundation," modeled on Late Latin fundamentalis "of the foundation," from Latin fundamentum "foundation" (see fundament). Fundamentals "primary principles or rules" of anything is from 1630s.