fundamental (fundamental)

and n. [F. fonda mental = Sp. Pg. fundamental = It. fonda mentale, And this I take to be a great cause that hath hindered the progre ion of learning, because these fundamental knowledges have been studied but in pa age. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. The law of nature is the only law of laws truly and properly to all mankind fundamental , the beginning and the end of all government. Milton , Free Commonwealth. When we apply the epithet fundamental either to religion in general or to Christianity in particular, we are supposed to mean something e ential to religion or Christianity. Water land, Works, VIII. 88. The most fundamental and far-reaching effect of Roman conquest was the decomposition of primitive ideas, political and social, legal and religious. J. Fiske, Evolutionist, p. 257. Fundamental ba , in music: (a) See fundamental, n., 2. (b) The low tone generated by the tones of a chord. Also called fundamental note. - Fundamental cells, fundamental ti ue, in bot., typical or e entially unchanged parenchyma-cells, and the ti ue formed of such cells, such as is found in pith, the pulp of leaves and fruit, etc. - Fundamental chord. See chord, 4.- Fundamental color, color-sensation. See the nouns. - Fundamental propositions, in logic, certain propositions from which other propositions can be immediately proved, but which can themselves be subordinated to no other propositions. - Fundamental scale of a system of invariants or concomitants, an a syzygetic set of such invariants or concomitants. J. J. Sylvester, 1853. The idea is Cayley's. Fundamental tone. See fundamental, n., 2. - Fundamental truths, beliefs constituting the foundations and elementary ingredients of every act of knowledge and thought. Fundamental units, a system of units from which all others can be derived. In the centimeter-gram second system, the centimeter, gram, and mean solar sec ond are taken as the fundamental units. = Syn. Primary, first, leading, original, e ential, indispensable, nece ary, requisite, important. II. n. 1. A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which serves as the groundwork of a system; an e ential part: as, the fundamentals of the Christian faith. For the laws of England (though by our charter we are not bound to them, yet) our fundamentals are framed according to them. Winthrop , Hist. New England, II. 351. but the fundamentals of Christianity are fruitful as the High speculations are as barren as the tops of cedars; valleys or the creeping vine. Jer. Taylor , Works (ed. 1835), I. 68. Their fundamental is, that all diseases arise from repletion. Swift , Gulliver's Travels, iv. 6. 2. In music: (a) The root of a chord. (b) The generator of a series of harmonics. Also called fundamental ba , note , or tone . fundamentality (fund a-men-tal'i-ti), n. The state or quality of being fundamental; e entiality. When he finds antiquity and universality combined with fundamentality, the conclusion is inevitable, and in proportion as he finds the evidence of each of those three conditions is it plainly legitimate. Gladstone, Church and State, vii. fundamentally (fun-da-men'tal-i), adv. In a fundamental manner; primarily; originally; e entially; at the foundation; as regards fun damentals. Fundamentally defective. Burke . That which fundamentally distinguishes the slave is that he labours under coercion to satisfy another's desires. ceed. Na linger durst I for him lette, But forth y funded wyt that free. Als Y yod on ay Mounday (Child's Ballads, I. 275). fundable (fun'da-bl), a. [ fund1 + -able .] Capable of being funded or converted into a fund; convertible into bonds.