radicalism

Etymology

It is formed from English radical + -ism.^[2][3][4] The OED compares the earlier radicality.^[2] Radical is from Late Latin rādīcālis (“of or having roots”), from Latin rādīx (“root”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Radical political principles and practice, especially those of the Radicals who sought sweeping parliamentary reform: 1817, in Jeremy Bentham's Plan of Parliamentary Reform.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1819.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word was political from the first: Etymonline notes that it meant, originally and especially, holding or carrying out extreme principles,^[3] and the OED that in early use it often had a capital, referring to the Radicals of the late 18th and 19th centuries.^[2] In Canada it named the principles of the Radicals as early as 1824.^[6] Two other senses did not last: the thorough method of getting to the root of something (1830–1885), and in 1849 the study of the radical words or letters of Hebrew.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED records a broader sense, views favouring sweeping social or political change, from 1899, and in psychology an axis of attitude, radicalism–conservatism, from 1930.^[7]

Timeline

• 1817 – radical political principles and practice.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1819.^[3]
• 1830 – thoroughness of method (obsolete by 1885).^[2][7]
• 1849 – the study of radical words or letters, especially in Hebrew (obsolete).^[2]
• 1899 – views favouring radical social or political change.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The beliefs, principles or practices of political or social radicals.^[5][8][2]
2. A radical movement, especially in politics.^[5][8]
3. The quality or state of being radical.^[5][8]
4. The will or effort to uproot and reform what is established.^[5]

Word family

• antiradicalism

Related words

• radical
• radix

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dollinger, Stefan, ed., A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (online), Vancouver: University of British Columbia, dchp.arts.ubc.ca
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins