Definition of Radical

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Radical

Of or pertaining to the root; proceeding directly from the root.

Hence: Of or pertaining to the root or origin; reaching to the center, to the foundation, to the ultimate sources, to the principles, or the like; original; fundamental; thorough-going; unsparing; extreme; as, radical evils; radical reform; a radical party.

Belonging to, or proceeding from, the root of a plant; as, radical tubers or hairs.

Proceeding from a rootlike stem, or one which does not rise above the ground; as, the radical leaves of the dandelion and the sidesaddle flower.

Relating, or belonging, to the root, or ultimate source of derivation; as, a radical verbal form.

Of or pertaining to a radix or root; as, a radical quantity; a radical sign. See below.

A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon.

A primitive letter; a letter that belongs to the radix.

One who advocates radical changes in government or social institutions, especially such changes as are intended to level class inequalities; -- opposed to conservative.

A characteristic, essential, and fundamental constituent of any compound; hence, sometimes, an atom.

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.

A radical quantity. See under Radical, a.

A radical vessel. See under Radical, a.

Related Definitions:

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Radical Quotations

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I never dared to be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.
Robert Frost

Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.
Pope John Paul II

The radical right is so homophobic that they're blaming global warming on the AIDS quilt.
Dennis Miller

By 'radical,' I understand one who goes too far; by 'conservative,' one who does not go far enough; by 'reactionary,' one who won't go at all.
Woodrow Wilson

The easiest way to get a reputation is to go outside the fold, shout around for a few years as a violent atheist or a dangerous radical, and then crawl back to the shelter.
F. Scott Fitzgerald

A radical generally meant a man who thought he could somehow pull up the root without affecting the flower. A conservative generally meant a man who wanted to conserve everything except his own reason for conserving anything.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

The gift of loneliness is sometimes a radical vision of society or one's people that has not previously been taken into account.
Alice Walker

No man can call himself liberal, or radical, or even a conservative advocate of fair play, if his work depends in any way on the unpaid or underpaid labor of women at home, or in the office.
Gloria Steinem

Any critic is entitled to wrong judgments, of course. But certain lapses of judgment indicate the radical failure of an entire sensibility.
Susan Sontag

Radical Translations

radical in Dutch is ingrijpend, grondig, radicaal
radical in Swedish is radikal, radikal, grundlig

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