English → Latin
“radical” in Latin
prīmitīvusprimitive (first of its kind), originalnātīvuscreated, made; inborn, innate, imparted by birth; natural, native, made by nature and not artificialīnserōto introduce into; to insert; to graft on; to implantinnāscorto be born in, grow up in; to arise in, originate in, be produced iningignōto implant or engenderprīmigeniusoriginal, primitive; firstbornrādīxroot (of a plant); radish; lower part of an object; rootfundāmentumfoundation; beginning; basis
The English word radical itself goes back to Latin rādīx, through rādīcālis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
radical
Primitive, native, primitivus; nativus; insitus; innatus; ingenitus; primigenius (Varr.): a radical word, verbum nativum; vocabulum primitivum (grammatical): the radical syllable, *syllaba primitiva: the radical meaning, naturalis et principalis significatio (Quint., 9, 1, 4); ea verbi significatio, in qua natum est (Gell., 13, 29, in.).
Fundamental, circumlocution by radix or fundamentum; e.g., pietas est fundamentum omnium virtutum, is the radical virtue; or by the adverbs, penitus, etc. Let us dare to attempt a radical cure of our miseries, audeamus non solum ramos amputare miseriarum, sed omnes radicum fibras evellere (Cic. Tusc., 3, 6, 13): radical reformer [Vid :, REFORMER]. A radical difference, quanta maxima esse potest distantia.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for radical?
- The usual Latin words for “radical” are prīmitīvus, nātīvus, īnserō; also innāscor, ingignō, prīmigenius. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.