Etymology

radical

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Today it means: Of or pertaining to the root of a plant. Full definition →

Middle English radical ← Latin rādīcālis
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromrādīcālis“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromradical
  3. English todayradical

PIE word *wréh₂ds Inherited from Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”). Compare grassroots.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.