fundamental

[ fuhn-duh-men-tl ]

/ ˌfʌn dəˈmɛn tl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fundamental ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

RELATED WORDS

foundation, basics, basis

Nearby words

fund supermarket, fund-raise, fund-raiser, fund-raising, fundament, fundamental, fundamental bass, fundamental constant, fundamental force, fundamental frequency, fundamental interaction

Origin of fundamental

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

SYNONYMS FOR fundamental

1 indispensable, primary.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fundamental ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

fun·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, adverb

un·fun·da·men·tal, adjectiveun·fun·da·men·tal·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for fundamentals

Eike waved away the Cassandras and spun his dedication to “fundamentals.”
The Rise And Fall Of Brazilian Billionaire Eike Batista|Mac Margolis|November 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To threaten these fundamentals over a disagreement about insurance policy seems crazy to Democrats.
Republicans Against the Republic|Lawrence Lessig|October 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Over time he realized that to do the job better, he needed to know the fundamentals of the ancient divining art.
Your Future Is in the Palm of Your (Surgeon’s) Hand|Jake Adelstein, Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky|July 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But for practical effect, you'd be better off trying to explain the fundamentals of tensor calculus.
Why Not Make Social Security Benefits Even More Generous|Megan McArdle|March 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Also, and I hate to use the phrase, but the fundamentals of the private-sector economy are relatively strong.
Why the GDP Drop is No Big Deal|Daniel Gross|January 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The latter is of advantage for quick reference after the fundamentals of the subject have been mastered.
A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public|Frank Bertram Wade
The shortest road to declared success in professional and economic geology lies through the early mastery of its fundamentals.
College Teaching|Paul Klapper
Then he had trained seven generations of students in its fundamentals.
The K-Factor|Harry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)
For a man who had apparently been in business all his life, I was densely ignorant of even the fundamentals of business.
One Way Out|William Carleton
It is apt to take too much time from the study of the fundamentals.
College Teaching|Paul Klapper

British Dictionary definitions for fundamentals

fundamental

/ (ˌfʌndəˈmɛntəl) /

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 Forms

fundamentality 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

fundamental

adjective

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of fundamental

SYNONYMS FOR fundamental

Related forms

Examples from the Web for fundamentals

British Dictionary definitions for fundamentals

fundamental

adjective

noun

Derived Forms