fundamental

adj 1: serving as an essential component; "a cardinal rule"; "the

central cause of the problem"; "an example that was

fundamental to the argument"; "computers are

fundamental to modern industrial structure" [syn: {cardinal},

{central}, {key}, {primal}]

2: being or involving basic facts or principles; "the

fundamental laws of the universe"; "a fundamental

incompatibility between them"; "these rudimentary truths";

"underlying principles" [syn: {rudimentary}, {underlying}]

3: far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect especially on the

nature of something; "the fundamental revolution in human

values that has occurred"; "the book underwent fundamental

changes"; "committed the fundamental error of confusing

spending with extravagance"; "profound social changes"

[syn: {profound}]

n : the lowest tone of a harmonic series [syn: {fundamental

frequency}, {first harmonic}]