fundamental

• foundament (when used as a noun)

From Late Latin fundamentālis, from Latin fundamentum (“foundation”), from fundō (“to lay the foundation (of something), to found”), from fundus (“bottom”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn.

• IPA^(key): /ˌfʌndəˈmɛntəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fun‧da‧men‧tal

fundamental (plural fundamentals)

1. (usually in the plural) A main or major principle, rule, law, etc. which serves as the foundation or basis of a system; an essential part

   one of the fundamentals of linear algebra

   • 1722, John Locke, The Works of John Locke ...: With Alphabetical Tables ..., page 572:

     When any one offers me a compleat Catalogue of his Fundamentals, he does not unreaſonably demand me to quit mine for nothing […]

   • 1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Happy Warrior Alfred E. Smith‎, Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC, →OL, page 28:

     Personal leadership is a fundamental of successful government.

2. (physics) The lowest frequency of a periodic waveform.
3. (music) The lowest partial of a complex tone.

fundamental (comparative more fundamental, superlative most fundamental)

1. Related to a foundation, base, or basis; serving as a foundation.
2. Essential; extremely important.

   Synonym: elementary

   a fundamental truth;   a fundamental axiom;   a fundamental element;   fundamental principle;   fundamental law

   A need for belonging seems fundamental to humans.

   • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

     Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.

• groundlaying
• See also Thesaurus:bare-bones

• “fundamental”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “fundamental”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

From fundament +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /fɔndaməntaːl/, [fɔnd̥amənˈtˢæːˀl]

• Audio

  (file)

fundamental

1. basic, fundamental

• afgørende
• basal
• grundliggende, grundlæggende

• fundamentalisme
• fundamentalist

From Latin fundāmentālis.

fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais)

1. fundamental

• “fundamental”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

Borrowed from Latin fundāmentālis. By surface analysis, Fundament +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /fʊndamɛnˈtaːl/
• Hyphenation: fun‧da‧men‧tal

• Audio

  (file)

fundamental (strong nominative masculine singular fundamentaler, comparative fundamentaler, superlative am fundamentalsten)

1. fundamental

   Synonym: grundlegend

• Fundamentalismus, Fundamentalist

• Fundamentalerkenntnis, Fundamentalentscheidung, Fundamentalgesetz, Fundamentalsatz

• “fundamental” in Duden online
• “fundamental” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Latin fundamentalis.

fundamental (masculine and feminine fundamental, neuter fundamentalt, definite singular and plural fundamentale)

1. fundamental, basic

• fundament

• “fundamental” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “fundamental” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Latin fundamentalis.

fundamental (neuter fundamentalt, definite singular and plural fundamentale)

1. fundamental, basic

• fundament

• “fundamental” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin fundāmentālis.

• Hyphenation: fun‧da‧men‧tal

fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais)

1. fundamental; essential (pertaining to the basic part or notion of something)

   Synonyms: essencial, básico

• fundamentalismo
• fundamentalista
• fundamentalmente

• “fundamental” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “fundamental” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Borrowed from French fondamental, from Latin fundamentalis. Equivalent to fundament +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /ˌfun.da.menˈtal/

fundamental m or n (feminine singular fundamentală, masculine plural fundamentali, feminine and neuter plural fundamentale)

1. fundamental

• fundamental in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

From Latin fundāmentālis.

• IPA^(key): /fundamenˈtal/ [fũn̪.d̪a.mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fun‧da‧men‧tal

fundamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural fundamentales)

1. fundamental

• “fundamental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

fundamental (not comparable)

1. fundamental

• fundamental in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• fundamental in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• fundamental in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)