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rudiment

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
ru·di·ment  (rd-mnt)
n.
1. A fundamental element, principle, or skill, as of a field of learning. Often used in the plural.
2. Something in an incipient or undeveloped form. Often used in the plural: the rudiments of social behavior in children; the rudiments of a plan of action.
3. Biology An imperfectly or incompletely developed organ or part.

[Latin rudmentum, from rudis, rough, unformed.]

rudi·mental (-mntl) adj.

rudiment [ˈruːdɪmənt]
n
1. (often plural) the first principles or elementary stages of a subject
2. (often plural) a partially developed version of something
3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) Biology an organ or part in its earliest recognizable form, esp one in an embryonic or vestigial state
[from Latin rudīmentum a beginning, from rudis unformed; see rude]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.rudimentrudiment - the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural); "he mastered only the rudiments of geometry"
basic principle, fundamental principle, fundamentals, basics, bedrock - principles from which other truths can be derived; "first you must learn the fundamentals"; "let's get down to basics"
plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one
2.rudiment - the remains of a body part that was functional at an earlier stage of life; "Meckel's diverticulum is the rudiment of the embryonic yolk sac"
body part - any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity
Translations
rudiment [ˈruːdɪmənt] N (Bio) → rudimento m rudimentsrudimentos mpl, primeras nociones fpl


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Whatever may be the carved and embroidered envelope of a cathedral, one always finds beneath it--in the state of a germ, and of a rudiment at the least--the Roman basilica.
This is the case with the male Ibla, and in a truly extraordinary manner with the Proteolepas: for the carapace in all other cirripedes consists of the three highly-important anterior segments of the head enormously developed, and furnished with great nerves and muscles; but in the parasitic and protected Proteolepas, the whole anterior part of the head is reduced to the merest rudiment attached to the bases of the prehensile antennae.
"Pray tell me anything new that has happened to a man anywhere on this globe" -- and he reads it over his coffee and rolls, that a man has had his eyes gouged out this morning on the Wachito River; never dreaming the while that he lives in the dark unfathomed mammoth cave of this world, and has but the rudiment of an eye himself.
 
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