Etymologically
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radical

Etymology and origin of the English word radical

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1398
Borrowed from
Latin radicalis
Ultimate origin
Late Latin (radicalis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈræd.ɪ.kəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin rādīcālis (“of or having roots”),[2][3][4][5] from rādīx (“root”) (genitive rādīcis),[2][3] which is related to English root and is the source of eradicate and radish.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 1398, in Trevisa, of bodily organs or fluids vital to life,[3][2] especially radical humidity or moisture, which medieval philosophy held inherent in all living things.[7][4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the basic sense in all meanings is “relating to a root”, hence “thoroughgoing, extreme”.[2] Inherent or fundamental is from 1562,[7][3] forming the basis from 1560,[7] and going to the origin, thorough, from 1651.[7][2] Radical reform was a phrase of English politics from 1786,[2][7] and by 1817 radical named the extreme section of the British Liberals;[2] the noun for an advocate of fundamental reform is from 1802.[3][2] Favouring extreme changes is from the 1840s in Barnhart,[3] and unconventional, as in radical design, from 1921.[2][3] In philology the root of a word is a radical from the 1630s, 1641 in Barnhart;[2][3] the radical sign in mathematics is from the 1680s and is a modified letter r;[2] in chemistry, a group of atoms acting as a unit, from French, is from 1816.[3][2] Radical chic was popularized, if not coined, by Tom Wolfe in 1970.[2][3] In US youth slang, “excellent”, it is from 1983, from 1970s surfers' “at the limits of control”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1398 – vital to life.[7][3]
  • 1562 – inherent, fundamental.[7][3]
  • 1630s – the root of a word.[2]
  • 1651 – thorough.[7]
  • 1786 – radical reform.[2]
  • 1802 – a radical reformer.[3][2]
  • 1816 – a chemical radical.[3][2]
  • 1921 – unconventional.[2]
  • 1970 – radical chic.[2][3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Relating to the basic nature of something; fundamental: radical differences.
  2. Far-reaching or thorough; departing greatly from what is usual: radical changes.
  3. Favouring thorough or revolutionary political or social change.
  4. (slang) Excellent.

Noun

  1. A person who favours thorough or revolutionary change.
  2. (chemistry) An atom or group of atoms with an unpaired electron; a free radical.
  3. (mathematics) A root of a quantity, or the sign that indicates it.
  4. (linguistics) The root of a word, or a basic component of a Chinese character.

Word family

  • radically
  • radicalness
  • antiradical
  • biradical
  • multiradical
  • nonradical
  • radicalise
  • radicalism
  • root
  • radix
  • radish
  • eradicate
  • ramus

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Radical.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/radical. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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