fundamental

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. (generic, singular) A basic truth, elementary concept, principle, rule, or law. An individual fundamental will often serve as a building block used to form a complex idea.
2. (generic, plural) A collection of essential component ideas that are often grouped together to serve as the foundational basis of a complex idea.

   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^[1], Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC, →OL, page 28:

     Personal leadership is a fundamental of successful government.

3. (physics) The lowest frequency of a periodic waveform.
4. (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.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “fundamental”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

From fundament +‎ -al.

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

• Audio:

  (file)

fundamental

1. basic, fundamental

• afgørende
• basal
• grundliggende, grundlæggende

• fundamentalisme
• fundamentalist

From Latin fundāmentālis. By surface analysis, fundamento +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /fundamenˈtal/ [fun̪.d̪a.mẽn̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): /fundamɛnˈtal/ [fun̪.d̪a.mɛ̃n̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: fun‧da‧men‧tal

fundamental m or f (plural fundamentais)

1. fundamental

• “fundamental”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

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

Borrowed from English fundamental, 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.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /fundaˈmental/ [fun.daˈmen̪.t̪al]
• Rhymes: -ental
• Syllabification: fun‧da‧men‧tal

fundamental (comparative lebih fundamental, superlative paling fundamental)

1. fundamental

• “fundamental” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

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 (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “fundamental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

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) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

fundamental (not comparable)

1. fundamental

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