n. Function: adjective
1 forming or affecting the groundwork, roots, or lowest part of something FF1C; the fundamental rules of poetry FF1E;
Synonyms: basal, basic, bottom, foundational, meat-and-potatoes, primary, radical, underlying
Related Words: primal, prime, primordial; elemental, elementary
Contrasted Words: incidental
2
Synonyms: ELEMENTAL 1, basic, elementary, essential, primitive, substratal, underlying
3
Synonyms: ESSENTIAL 2, cardinal, constitutive, vital
Related Words: indispensable, necessary, needful, requisite; dominant, paramount