fundamental

Pluralfundamentals

1. 1
   adjective

   Very important, so that other things depend on it.

   Like the base of a building: if it is weak, everything on top falls down.

   Clean water is a fundamental need for every living thing.

   Trust is fundamental to any good friendship.

   Similaressential, elementary

   Oppositeminor, superficial, trivial, peripheral

   Note
2. 2
   adjective

   Forming the base that other things are built on.

   Like the roots of a tree that hold up everything growing above them.

   Addition is one of the fundamental operations you learn first in math.

   The fundamental structure of a house rests on a solid concrete base.

   Similarbasic, foundational, underlying, core, elementary

   Oppositesecondary, derivative

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A basic truth or rule that bigger ideas are built from.

   Like a single brick used to help build a whole wall.

   Sharing is a fundamental that kids learn early in life.

   Once you know the fundamentals, the harder parts make more sense.

   Similarprinciple, essential, basic, rudiment

   Note
4. 4
   nouncountable

   A group of basic ideas that together form the base of a bigger idea.

   Like a toolkit: many tools grouped together for one big job.

   Grammar is one of the fundamentals of learning a language, made up of many rules.

   The team studied the fundamentals of good defense together.

   Similarbasics, essentials, rudiments, principles, foundations

   Note
5. 5
   nouncountable

   The lowest frequency in a repeating wave.

   Like the deepest, slowest swing of a jump rope, with quicker wobbles added on top.

   Every repeating wave has a fundamental, its lowest frequency.

   Engineers measured the fundamental and the faster waves above it.

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   The lowest tone inside a musical sound.

   Like the main color of a painting, with lighter shades layered over it.

   The fundamental is the main pitch you hear when a string is plucked.

   Softer tones ring out above the fundamental in the same note.

   Note

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